Subj : Musk's Starlink
To   : Daniel
From : August Abolins
Date : Sun Jun 14 2020 02:22 pm

Hello Daniel!

** On Friday 12.06.20 - 09:21, Daniel wrote to August Abolins:

 AA>> .. Wouldn't the bottom line price be the logical concern before
 AA>> tossing 1000's of more space junk up there that can put other people
 AA>> at the risk of falling debris?

 D> They're not junk if they serve a purpose and especially if they
 D> deorbit when done.

Sorry.. I did not mean to discredit the entire effort.  But I was just  
thinking of those pieces as "junk" as they are decomissioned into lower  
orbit and into reentry for burn up.  There is a risk that some debri would  
remain and possibly cause damage.  Coordinating a satellite back into  
decent to earth and avoid stiking an airliner could be a challenge.


 D> And on the price, it will be a worldwide service and would be open to
 D> a larger subscriber base than a traditional provider. It would be much
 D> easier to provide an inexpensive service when spreading the cost to a
 D> larger base of customers...

It will be very interesting when the real figures pop up.  Right now, I am  
not interested in paying more than $40/mo for any kind of internet. The  
concept is already overpriced as it is, imho.

Actually, it's pretty sad to witness so much attention to the internet  
when ordinary phone quality seems to be diminishing year by year. I am so  
fed up with the audio lag and echo that people have when they call from  
their VoIP lines or cell phones. Almost every one having discontinued  
their landlines in favour of lower-cost VoIP or cell phones sound like  
they are all under water.


 D> SpaceX's solution will be a 'ufo on a stick.' No dish needed.

With the orbital satellites contantly on the move, I did not expect that a  
user would need a fixed dish. I imagine it would work much like GPS  
operates.  I am impressed how quickly my portable GPS Drive-60 device can  
track and report the speed of my vehicle to the second in real-time.


 D> ... I know it's in the tens-of-thousands and recently got approval for
 D> more. The satellites are really small compared to the ones you
 D> normally see in orbit. Each no larger than my computer desk and less
 D> than a foot thick. Each blade have dozens of individual computers in a
 D> mesh, powered by solar, and armed with autonomous navigation.

Yes, it sounds like an impressive invention. I can imagine how much fun  
the designers had to create them.


 D> This is the future.

But not more than $40/mo for me!


  ../|ug

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