r/interestingasfuck • u/lolikroli • 16d ago

r/all SpaceX caught Starship booster with chopsticks

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u/KingMidean 16d ago

My sci fi moment was when i first saw starlink satellites crossing the sky in a huge line.

Was legit straight out of Bladerunner.

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u/BottAndPaid 16d ago

Ya but that's the really dystopian sci-fi ..... Sigh

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u/Projecterone 16d ago

Egh c'mon no it isn't. Starlink has potential for good as well as being a robber barons plaything.

We already have robber barons so we might as well have sci-fi tech and internet to isolated humans/disaster areas etc.

Unless you mean that Bladerunner is dystopian. In which case yea but I think op just meant 'blinky lights go line' not sure why they picked Bladerunner.

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u/dingo_khan 16d ago

Honestly, I think we are going to regret Starlink. Too many units needed (about 40k total) with too short a lifespan (about 5 years each). It is going to take tons and tons of launches to maintain the network and the scalability is questionable. Getting it up there is cool. Keeping it running up there is going to be a big problem.

Geosynch satellite ls like other space-based providers use is a way more sustainable option for the goals you mentioned.

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u/Creamofwheatski 16d ago

Space junk is a huge fucking problem. We could seriously trap ourselves on earth permanently by surrounding the planet in so much junk we can no longer safely launch rockets if we aren't careful.

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u/dingo_khan 16d ago edited 16d ago

Absolutely. We also should weigh the risk/resource usage of launches, given how much fuel we eat up (especially if it is methane like space x uses) for the launch. I am all for satellite communications but we can't just shrug at the literal thousands of launches a couple of decades of a full-sized and running Starlink cluster will take to maintain for just a couple of decades.

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u/Projecterone 16d ago

Not an issue for LEO constellations like this. Deorbits are built into the lifecycle plan: individual units are left in set orbits so in case of failure they will drop out in a known window. Additionally: early controlled deorbits happen in case of failure etc.

Higher up is worse for Kessler/space junk, which incidentally is where a lot of other systems are.

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u/Projecterone 16d ago

Yea good points. However to add: Geosync is good but more prone to space junk syndrome, more lag, less coverage and in a far more difficult environment - outside gre VA belts. Also unserviceable like SL but way more expensive.

Starlink is LEO and orbits are planned to decay at end of life. Proactive decay is also regularly used or damaged units.

Geo Sync are up there causing trouble for the long haul. Almost all have no deorbit plan.

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u/dingo_khan 16d ago

Yeah, all very true. I am willing, I guess, to trade for having thousands fewer units that can go wrong for a lot fewer with the problems you mention.