Source: Musk says SpaceX is 'fixing' brightness from satellites:
Stargazers around the world and including many Britons have witnessed unusual constellations made up of the low earth orbit spacecraft.
SpaceX has been launching large batches of satellites as part of its Starlink project to improve global internet coverage.
The most recent launch took place on Wednesday.
Responding to a question about the brightness of the Starlink satellites on Twitter, Mr Musk said it was due to the angle of the satellites solar panels and the company was "fixing it now".
A fix could make them less visible from Earth.
(Score: 1, Troll) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Saturday April 25 2020, @05:41PM (5 children)
Uh... these aren't geosynchronous? (I'm sorry to say I haven't checked). If not, this becomes the most stupid plan I think I've heard of.
If they are geosynchonous, then as long as you are at a fixed position you should basically always be communicating on the same satellite. (Yeah, mobile users might vary). And then it is still the stupidest plan I think I've ever heard of.
I don't care how well they fix it, if the solar angle is correct it will be visible when doing astrophotography. And lots of astronomers protested SpaceX's plans to do this, but nobody who had the power told them, "no, you can't," or even really addressed the subject that I'm aware of. Though I would like to be proven wrong.
All because people needing teh Internets is more important than the science that developed the technology to do it.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Saturday April 25 2020, @08:08PM (4 children)
Yeah, you might need to freshen up on what's going on before you call it stupid.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink [wikipedia.org]
LEO is where you want it, not GEO, user terminals can track multiple overhead satellites, and they are working on reducing the visibility of the satellites. The FCC approved of Starlink. Astronomers need to face the reality of significant human activity in space, and they can embrace it by launching superior space telescopes (soon to be very cheaply launched by SpaceX).
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(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Wednesday April 29 2020, @10:34PM (3 children)
Maybe they should have solved those problems before they launched? And "astronomer" does not necessarily mean "educational facility that has invested millions of dollars in a meters-long aperture." If they give me an 800 number I can call so that it won't interfere with my astrophotography, great! Otherwise, as I said, and as the article said, they haven't walked the walk yet.
Though I do find it interesting to be currently modded +1 Troll.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday April 29 2020, @11:06PM (2 children)
I didn't mod it, but complaining about single downmods is so 2-4 years ago.
They have launched only a small fraction of the planned constellation. And the next launch (May 7) and subsequent launches will include what could be the last solution they will come up with for reducing the brightness:
https://spacenews.com/spacex-to-test-starlink-sun-visor-to-reduce-brightness/ [spacenews.com]
https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/28/elon-musk-provides-more-details-about-spacexs-plan-to-reduce-starlink-satellite-visibility/ [techcrunch.com]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink#List_of_launches [wikipedia.org]
The smaller astronomers matter even less than the institutions. But the sats should be invisible to the naked eye, and we'll see how well the "visors" work for astrophotography.
800 number? If there is something like that, it will be a website or tracking software.
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(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Thursday April 30 2020, @04:53PM (1 child)
Wasn't complaining about the mod. Just noting the irony as I think that's the first time I've seen any post of mine, anon or not, as a Troll-but-positive rating. Sorry if I implied or jumped to the conclusion that you were the downmodder, as you were just disagreeing with me.
It would have been nice if they had addressed the issue pre-launch, and if they did but what they planned failed that was fine. But my understanding is they were cautioned well in advance of this but went ahead anyway.
But there is a world of gray as to what constitutes 'small' versus 'large'. I've only got about three grand in my setup, and I am indeed small time. But I can stick up for what I have. I know clubs and astronomers who have invested tens of thousands, participate in research projects in affiliation with larger centers, and they are still considered small. Astronomy is still one of those fields where amateurs can make significant contributions to the field.
But yes, I think littering the skies with thousands of satellites to provide internet access to the public is a colossal waste, capable of being better supplied by ground-bound means with far better latency, and I do sincerely hope Starlink falls flat on its face. Which is bittersweet, as I do wish them success with their Mars project.
But there are better ways to accomplish this. Hughes provides nationwide internet coverage with EchoStar using 9 current satellites including some from other providers, and they have launched a total of 24 satellites since 1995. One does not need thousands of satellites to establish worldwide internet coverage.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday May 01 2020, @12:13AM
You aren't an OG until you've achieved the elusive (Score: 5, Troll).
Starlink (low Earth orbit broadband) is the superior internet option for anyone off the grid, or in an aircraft [spacenews.com], boat, RV, etc. No digging anything up or maintaining cables. Very good for a nomadic or mobile lifestyle, or homes that ISPs refuse to connect to. When thinking about deployment, you should look at Australia's National Broadband Network [wikipedia.org]. Lots of rural people to connect, broken promises [theregister.co.uk] of high speed fiber, high costs, etc. It's no surprise that Australia is the second country to take steps towards approval of Starlink [cnbc.com].
Geostationary satellites mean very high latency, making it unsuitable for many applications. A limited number of satellites means low total bandwidth, and less speed per customer. LEO broadband is probably less susceptible to weather conditions.
Starlink could have superior latency to ground-based in certain scenarios. For example, communicating between New York and London.
LEO satellites are easier to launch, and if something goes wrong, they can be passively deorbited.
Starlink isn't the only player in this. OneWeb is out for now, but Amazon/Blue Origin intends to have their own constellation, and there will likely be a Chinese constellation down the line. Broadband sats aren't the only "junk" you can expect in LEO. And part of that will be a consequence of the cheap fully reusable Starship being developed for SpaceX's "Mars project". Getting stuff into low Earth orbit will become 90% cheaper, perhaps 99% cheaper.
Starlink satellites have mandated deorbit plans, so any early prototypes that are too bright are going to be gone within about 6 years. Maybe sooner if they decide to deorbit them early. The "trains" of satellites that have been spotted by astronomers shortly after launches aren't representative of the final orbits and brightness anyway (and they spread out).
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