One of the defining qualities of Starlink for me is the relatively fast iteration rate for the satellites.
Satellites on low orbits are expected to last for a few years only. Unlike Iridium etc., they are not designed for a decade of service. Thus the customers can expect their service to improve over years, probably significantly so.
The beta bandwidth is 100 Mbps downlink, but I would expect 1 Gbps within a decade.
While I understand your line of thinking, I think is bizarre that short life span is seen as good thing in a world, where we should probably be careful with how we use every single resource for the sake of the environment and future generations.
Tens of thousands of satellites looks like a huge constellation, but compared to the worldwide fleet of cars, bicycles, or even laptops, their total resource footprint isn't very big. Their ratio of users to machines is incredibly high. And they are designed to burn up completely, so they do not end up in a landfill somewhere.
Fast improvements of worldwide Internet coverage may well be net positive for the environment and future generations. For example, protection of animals in national parks of Africa against poaching may become easier / more efficient.
If you think about it, the satellites disintegrate in the atmosphere, reseeding the planet with whatever elements they're made of. Same as how many elements on Earth comes from asteroids!
Sometimes a bizarre situation warrants a bizarre strategy. Satellites will sometimes break, and even Starlink itself as a business can go under. And, as the OP describes, they become obsolete by their nature as telecom hardware. It is severely expensive to remove a satellite from orbit. But a low altitude constellation is self cleaning. Starlink can go under entirely and the entire constellation will still come down in a reasonable timeframe.
Seriously, I really think that Starlink main purpose is to justify SpaceX rockets. It is nice having reusable rockets, but if you don't have anything to launch, that's useless. Currently, the market for satellites is limited, so SpaceX created its own market.
That likely won't happen unless the service becomes unprofitable. Which, given the demand for fast internet around the world and the drop in launch prices, can only happen through competition.
I cancelled my preorder and they refunded my deposit very quickly. The killer for me was the power consumption of Dishy McFlatface and the associated router. My location is limited to solar and batteries off-grid. According to early testers the dish consumed nearly 100 watts continuously and potentially quite a bit more when it decided to go into defrost mode. Without major upgrades that would consume my entire power reserve in very short order.
Sorry but i have difficulty to understand Starlink business : who are really their potentials customers ? It seems there is only a few possibilities :
- rural area (with sufficient incomes to afford the price)
- urban area with highly expensive/bad quality landline internet (but still with sufficient incomes to afford the price)
With the development of fiber in most urban area (usually fist in high income part) and the small number in the first category, I don't see how deploying tens of thousands of satellites could be profitable.
The only option will be to be able to lower the price but it will need a lot of customers...
Could you help me understand ?
This is a global network. Population of the world is around 8 billion. Even if some countries like China ban Starlink for political reasons, you should be able to find tens of millions of customers among the rest.
There are a lot of places where local providers act like robber barons.
> There are a lot of places where local providers act like robber barons.
I agree, this may be the best effect Starlink can have : create competition.
> Population of the world is around 8 billion
Yes but which part is able to afford 99$/month (+antenna) + bad local provider which refuse to adapt to competition (first at price/offer level before even infrastructure) + no political reason for a global-us based provider ?
I suspect the segment that I'm in is pretty huge. I recently got Starlink. I got it mostly because it was alright internet and I really fucking hate Comcast. They're the only landline option that I have in a suburban area, and fiber internet is unlikely to come here any time soon.
I mean sure, I'd rather our legislators actually do their job and pass a law enforcing local loop unbundling, but until that point Starlink is a breath of fresh, competitive air.
Add airlines to it. Imagine, if every large passenger airplane carries a Starlink terminal... (of course paying the elevated fee for mobiles applications faster than 500mph)
And once it starts to get rolled out to airplanes, which airline can afford not to offer Starlink connections?
Musk said that Starlink is (or will be) in talks with lots of local telecom companies which are required to offer nationwide coverage. They are required by law, to keep their licenses, or to fullfill commitments.Starlink will have lots of B2B customers and partnerships then.
They haven’t lied. It’s quite possible they just aren’t servicing your area yet, which then means there’s no point in giving you a device at this time.
FILO is certainly one of the more frustrating consumer experiences. I wonder if they've changed inventory/ ordering systems in the time between your order and your friend's?
Starlink will begin offering service in your area beginning mid to late 2021. Orders will be fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis. You will be notified via email prior to shipment, and you will be charged the remainder of your balance once your kit ships.
Your Starlink Kit will arrive with your Starlink, wifi router, power supply, cables and mounting tripod. For more information or to cancel your order, sign in to your account.
There is no way you can convince a sane person that launching TENS OF THOUSANDS of satellites every 5 years is somehow more eco friendly than launching 3 (! yeah, three). You are completely out of touch with reality.
Are you even serious? Cluttering the sky with THOUSANDS of sattelites is okey, while other providers offer comparable service with.. 3 sattelites, that operate for decades?
This is absolutely the worse way of providing Low to Medium quality connection to richest world, at the expense of everyone else.
I am running my half broken laptop from 2016,that I d hope, would last much longer.
There are a few subjects that engage the downvote hivemind reaction on HN, one of them is implying that Elon Musk might not shit cinnamon roll scented gold.
It is probably going to be particularly bad in this thread because pretty much everyone hates their ISP and is excited for an alternative that doesn't need to deal with every single municipality separately the way Google Fiber did.
The location of satellites is regulated mostly by USA federal agencies. The satelites will also fall back within 2-5 years when abandoned or broken. SpaceX has also obligation to make their satellites 100% demisable with nothing getting to the ground. Besides that you can not see them on the night sky even in rural areas. And they are fully invisible in cities with enormous light pollution. The only time when they are visible to naked eye is right after launch.
Readit News
Satellites on low orbits are expected to last for a few years only. Unlike Iridium etc., they are not designed for a decade of service. Thus the customers can expect their service to improve over years, probably significantly so.
The beta bandwidth is 100 Mbps downlink, but I would expect 1 Gbps within a decade.
Tens of thousands of satellites looks like a huge constellation, but compared to the worldwide fleet of cars, bicycles, or even laptops, their total resource footprint isn't very big. Their ratio of users to machines is incredibly high. And they are designed to burn up completely, so they do not end up in a landfill somewhere.
Fast improvements of worldwide Internet coverage may well be net positive for the environment and future generations. For example, protection of animals in national parks of Africa against poaching may become easier / more efficient.
Seriously, I really think that Starlink main purpose is to justify SpaceX rockets. It is nice having reusable rockets, but if you don't have anything to launch, that's useless. Currently, the market for satellites is limited, so SpaceX created its own market.
Sounds like a smart move, but we'll see.
- rural area (with sufficient incomes to afford the price)
- urban area with highly expensive/bad quality landline internet (but still with sufficient incomes to afford the price)
With the development of fiber in most urban area (usually fist in high income part) and the small number in the first category, I don't see how deploying tens of thousands of satellites could be profitable. The only option will be to be able to lower the price but it will need a lot of customers... Could you help me understand ?
There are a lot of places where local providers act like robber barons.
I agree, this may be the best effect Starlink can have : create competition.
> Population of the world is around 8 billion
Yes but which part is able to afford 99$/month (+antenna) + bad local provider which refuse to adapt to competition (first at price/offer level before even infrastructure) + no political reason for a global-us based provider ?
I mean sure, I'd rather our legislators actually do their job and pass a law enforcing local loop unbundling, but until that point Starlink is a breath of fresh, competitive air.
And once it starts to get rolled out to airplanes, which airline can afford not to offer Starlink connections?
I am disappointed they lied about order fulfillment taking place in the order received.
Edit to add: we ordered within a month of each other and two of us live 20-30 miles apart so "our area" (central NC) should be active.
Maybe the other commenter is right and now its saying not available because it is saturated?
Full text:
Starlink will begin offering service in your area beginning mid to late 2021. Orders will be fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis. You will be notified via email prior to shipment, and you will be charged the remainder of your balance once your kit ships.
Your Starlink Kit will arrive with your Starlink, wifi router, power supply, cables and mounting tripod. For more information or to cancel your order, sign in to your account.
It also means there are less space junk in orbit, where it can do the most harm. That's why it's in a low orbit.
Otherwise, orbital debris could potentially accumulates, making space access impossible.
Are you still running a Celeron from 2000 or a Nokia from 2010?
If yes, kudos to you. If not, you are being hypocritical.
This is absolutely the worse way of providing Low to Medium quality connection to richest world, at the expense of everyone else.
I am running my half broken laptop from 2016,that I d hope, would last much longer.
Yes? Active satellites are not space junk.
Dead Comment
It is probably going to be particularly bad in this thread because pretty much everyone hates their ISP and is excited for an alternative that doesn't need to deal with every single municipality separately the way Google Fiber did.