from the scrubbed-so-often-they-should-be-clean-by-now dept.
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
A September full of suffering for space fans now seems to be bleeding over into October as a long series of launch delays continues with Monday's scrub of a planned SpaceX Starlink mission[*].
This marks the fifth time the launch has been pushed back in the past three weeks, and it comes just three days after SpaceX had to stand down once again from launching a GPS satellite for the US Space Force on Friday. That mission has also been postponed now a total of four times in the past week.
The delays aren't only affecting SpaceX. A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket was set to lift a new US spy satellite into orbit Aug. 27 and has been delayed no less than six times since, most recently on Sept. 30.
[*] SpaceX was able to successfully launch the Starlink satellites on Tuesday.
Related Stories
SpaceX Starlink aids Native American tribe: "It catapulted us into the 21st century"
Just a week after news broke that SpaceX was gifting Starlink internet service to Washington State's Emergency Management department, the state has revealed SpaceX's satellites are also benefitting the Native American Hoh Tribe.
[...] Interviewed by CNBC, Washington State Military Department emergency telecommunications leader Richard Hall heaped praise on SpaceX's nascent satellite internet, noting that "I have never set up any tactical satellite equipment that has been as quick to set up, and anywhere near as reliable" and that "there's really no comparison" between Starlink and alternatives.
[...] Now, with SpaceX's help and encouraged by the Washington State Military's successes, the Washington State Department of Commerce's Broadband Office has deployed Starlink terminals at the Hoh Tribe's Reserve in Forks, WA. Remote and rural, Hoh Tribe Vice Chairman Melvinjohn Ashue described trying to work with the reservation's existing communications infrastructure like "paddling up-river with a spoon" until Starlink's introduction.
[...] Ashue was at least as effusive as Hall, frankly stating that "it seemed like out of nowhere, SpaceX came up and just catapulted [the Hoh Tribe] into the 21st century."
(Score: 3, Touché) by DannyB on Wednesday October 07 2020, @06:59PM (11 children)
Launch providers, but especially SpaceX, must take measures to ensure they have better control of the weather on launch days.
If you think a fertilized egg is a child but an immigrant child is not, please don't pretend your concerns are religious
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Wednesday October 07 2020, @07:21PM (10 children)
In a hypothetical future of 1 million people working in orbit and on the Moon and 10+ launches per day globally, they need to push through the stratosphere even if it's a little windy. Although we still have weather and volcano-related delays for passenger aircraft.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Wednesday October 07 2020, @10:36PM
The industry, if not still in its infancy, is still at little better than early toddler level. It will "grow up" fast. They may decide that Florida, which may miss direct hits by most hurricanes but is still affected by the weather they drag along no matter which way they turn, is not the best place to center the industry.
(Score: 2) by Mojibake Tengu on Thursday October 08 2020, @01:13AM (8 children)
Do you believe yourself?
Reality check:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/14-million-children-going-hungry-coronavirus_n_5f07777cc5b6480493cd5e87 [huffpost.com]
The edge of 太玄 cannot be defined, for it is beyond every aspect of design
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday October 08 2020, @01:23AM (6 children)
That's entirely irrelevant.
1. Hypothetical
2. FUTURE
3. I specified global launches
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Mojibake Tengu on Thursday October 08 2020, @10:41AM
Not irrelevant at all. Just compare the cost of feeding 1 million orbital people to the (unable to handle by United States) cost of feeding 14 million of children on the ground.
If there ever be a million people on the orbit, they certainly will be taikonauts and kosmonauts, not astronauts. And there is good reason behind that.
The edge of 太玄 cannot be defined, for it is beyond every aspect of design
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday October 08 2020, @12:03PM (4 children)
(b) How much does that solution cost?
(c) How much would it cost to avoid causing the problem in (a) in the first place?
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday October 08 2020, @10:14PM (3 children)
1 million is the conservative estimate.
https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=17/07/17/0235257 [soylentnews.org]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Friday October 09 2020, @08:50AM (2 children)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday October 09 2020, @04:22PM (1 child)
Repeat the Russian troll, and that's the caliber of response you're getting back.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Saturday October 10 2020, @09:31AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Thursday October 08 2020, @03:16AM
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday October 07 2020, @07:19PM
Elon Musk: SpaceX's Starlink broadband public beta ready to go after latest launch [zdnet.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday October 07 2020, @09:27PM (1 child)
C'mon Boeing! Let's have lots and LOTS of SLS launches! At $2+ Billion dollars each! (conservatively estimated)
C'mon Boeing! Let's see the Starliner! (although cmdr of first Starliner launch just bowed out [spaceflightnow.com]. I'm sure it's not for safety reasons. The Starliner will be as safe as the 737 MAX.)
If you think a fertilized egg is a child but an immigrant child is not, please don't pretend your concerns are religious
(Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday October 07 2020, @09:46PM
That level of safety might be fine, for a manned space launch.
In reality, the glitches experienced on the first Starliner launch could make it less safe than the 737 MAX.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by aim on Thursday October 08 2020, @08:32AM
Actually, skywatchers from the (not only amateur) astronomer front will welcome the lack of addition to the light pollution especially from Starlink (and whatever competition to it).