Post Atp3TYvha6fJNgUTMe by allanb@mastodon.social
 (DIR) More posts by allanb@mastodon.social
 (DIR) Post #Atp1QLttMptsC7zA3M by Nonilex@masto.ai
       2025-05-06T15:54:32Z
       
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       #GiftArticle#ElonMusk’s Most Alarming #Power GrabCan anyone stop his #space-based #internet?by Ross AndersenWhen #Musk’s engineers bundled a batch of prototype #satellites into a rocket’s nose cone 6yrs ago, there were <2k functional satellites in Earth’s #orbit. Many more would soon be on the way: All through the pandemic, & the years since, Musk’s company, #SpaceX, kept launching them. >7k of his satellites now surround #Earth like a cloud of gnats.#tech https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/05/starlink-elon-musk-space-internet/682705/?gift=guxsrl_dAdXUP9zqbQPWxS9Y60abe3-ea5P_I6HWcuE&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
       
 (DIR) Post #Atp1m10jiOMVmGW5g0 by Nonilex@masto.ai
       2025-05-06T15:58:27Z
       
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       This fleet, which works to provide #space-based #internet service to the ground, dwarfs those of all other private #companies & #NationStates put together. And almost every week, #Musk adds to it, flinging dozens more #satellites into the sky.Andersen recently asked the space historian Jonathan McDowell, who keeps an online registry of #Earth’s satellites, if any one person had ever achieved such #dominance over the orbital realm, & so quickly. “This is unique,”he said.#tech #power #monopoly
       
 (DIR) Post #Atp1sgGdEnTTTA87I8 by Nonilex@masto.ai
       2025-05-06T15:59:40Z
       
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       Then, after considering the question further, McDowell realized there was a precedent, but only one: Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, the Soviet engineer who developed #Sputnik & its launch vehicle. “From 1958 to 1959, when no one else had any #satellites in orbit, Korolev was the only guy in town.” #Musk is not the only guy in town circa 2025, but the rapid growth of his #space-based network may represent a Sputnik moment of its own.#tech #power #monopoly #internet
       
 (DIR) Post #Atp22tiA6kc63qsXaK by GGMcBG@mstdn.plus
       2025-05-06T16:01:29Z
       
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       @Nonilex Then Elon takes out all the other satellites, owns the entirety of the sky and what's under it. Who's gonna tell me that's farfetched now. I should say how much I despise absolutely every single person who gave him air to grow. I don't trust a single person I voted for who carried his nazi ass here.This blows and if any elected during his rise refuses to take blame now, fuck them whole.
       
 (DIR) Post #Atp2NAvlnPNzG3ueoK by Nonilex@masto.ai
       2025-05-06T16:05:10Z
       
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       #Musk 1st announced his intention to build #space-based #internet, which he would eventually call #Starlink, in 2015. He had plans to settle #Mars, …the moons of #Jupiter, & maybe #asteroids too. All those space colonies would have to be connected via #satellite-based communication; Starlink itself might…be adapted for this use. Indeed, Starlink’s terms…ask customers to affirm they “recognize Mars as a free planet & that no Earth-based govt has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities.”
       
 (DIR) Post #Atp2W75rQqdPxmtXSC by Nonilex@masto.ai
       2025-05-06T16:06:47Z
       
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       #Musk is clearly imagining a future in which neither his network nor his will can be restrained by the people of this world. But even now, here on Earth, #space #internet is a big #business. Fiber networks cannot extend to every bit of dry land on the planet, & they certainly can’t reach airborne or seaborne vessels. More than 5 million people have already signed up for #Starlink, & it is growing rapidly.#tech #power #monopoly #satellites
       
 (DIR) Post #Atp3TYvha6fJNgUTMe by allanb@mastodon.social
       2025-05-06T16:17:24Z
       
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       @Nonilex He's your bog-standard meglomaniac