From a human rights perspective internet access must be globally available because those without internet service are in abject information accessibility poverty and can't ever reasonably compete. They are doomed without it.Starlink | Availability Map
View availability, coverage, speeds and latency for Starlink service.www.starlink.com
Not much in Africa. Surprisingly some in Mongolia. I think in time it will be worldwide.
That's the ideas sort of stuff that I have read anyway. I'm not a expert on the topic.
bigthink.com
Agree... I posted this a few pages back.Interesting...
Will Musk's Starlink satellites lead to Kessler syndrome?
Space weather poses a tremendous threat to all satellites, knocking all computer systems offline. Is that a recipe for Kessler syndrome?
Yes, I imagined this occurring and it's been named and explained now. It would be a major catastrophe almost being like all the water pipes in a city freezing because the heating systems where not provided with energy like electricity for example. To have all data communications totally obliterated and without resources to rapidly bring everything back online is a major major upset event that would cost many lives and a breakdown in societal norms that we rely on for everything in today's world.Interesting...
Will Musk's Starlink satellites lead to Kessler syndrome?
Space weather poses a tremendous threat to all satellites, knocking all computer systems offline. Is that a recipe for Kessler syndrome?
the actual topic of the tread ...
I am totally ignorant how all this Starlink stuff functions, how it avoids collisions and locates themselves in space and time. Never mind where the energy comes from for operating and for backup at night. The electronic circuitry in Starlink satellites must be incredibly efficientI’m just fascinated that it works out economicaly sending shed loads of satellites into space instead of fibers ?
Or is it us peculiar telco market that creates the niche ?
As a bit of tech nerd I’m fascinated that it works so good
Makes one think that a military might think twice before deciding to take action, like taking out another country's satellite. Because in the end, if it caused a chain reaction, they could end up losing their own satellite.
Wow! You are correct and that is a really cool thought. I read a long time ago a book written by the USA Army about nuclear detonation effects and what they mean and how to survive after major nuke detonations and avoid radiation sickness as best as possible. The energy will take out solid state electronics including orbiting satellite electronics systems if they are in the beta or alpha wave energy zone (I'm not sure it it's the beta or the alpha energy.). So having hardwired data systems and hardwired electrical energy power transmission systems are more secure for such events when compared to a system like Starlink.
There is some progress in hardening satellite electronics. I am guessing some military ground gear is protected at least somewhat. Supposedly one reason the Soviets stuck with vacuum tubes in their aircraft for so long is tube gear isn't taken out by this radiation. So all of us luddites with tube gear and phono records can continue listening as long as we live after some such event.
arstechnica.com
One cool thing is they use lasers to connect all the orbiting satellites to each other and move data around to and from customers. Then it is beamed down to ground stations they call Gateways. There are 150 of those. I think the ground station locations are why you have areas not served. The Gateway has to be within a 1000 miles to connect to the satellite network.
starlinkinsider.com
Holy Crap! I thought it was sooper cool and now it's like the coolest ever. Lasers! Amazing.
Kessler syndrome won't eliminate ALL communications (after all, we still have plenty of data cables on the ground), and if it happened in LEO I think GPS would still be OK, but it will trap us on earth for the forseeable future. Which is bad for many reasons, but would not (I think) cause an absolute catastrophe down here on earth.
Something to keep in mind though that the article didn't mention is that most of these are in low earth orbit which means they are subject to the drag of the extreme outer atmosphere so their orbits will naturally decay to reentry even if the satellites themselves are completely dead. They actively keep correcting their orbits to stay up.Agree... I posted this a few pages back.
JSmith