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[deleted] t1_it4kmbi wrote

Reply to comment by igneousink in China looked at putting a monitoring satellite in retrograde geostationary orbit via the moon by OkOrdinary5299

[deleted]

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saberline152 t1_it4milx wrote

those are in LEO tho?

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koohikoo t1_it4oewi wrote

That’s correct, they aren’t really a major concern for space junk because they’re in quite low of an orbit, meaning Even if they explode, most of the debris will burn up in the atmosphere

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thx1138- t1_it4opgw wrote

Not to mention they're designed to have short life spans and continually be replaced.

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GlockAF t1_it4v7eh wrote

Altitude, geostationary orbit:

35,786 km (22,236 miles)

Altitude, Starlink orbit:

550 km (340 miles)

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chadenright t1_it5r38l wrote

Spacex's satellites are intentionally short-lived and have a useful life of just five years. If someone went to the enormous trouble of knocking them all out, SpaceX could just launch a barebones service replacement on the next satellite full of replacements they were going to launch anyways.

Honestly, part of why I'm reluctant to commit to using Starlink is because it sounds like it has very high operating and maintenance costs for that reason. Sure, Musk has made space launches cheaper. Cheap enough to intentionally use short-lived satellites for long-term static services? I don't know....

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StevenTM t1_it8aybo wrote

It's not the fact that a tree in the area surrounding your house means your internet cuts out..?

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igneousink t1_it4l9f7 wrote

i find spacex to be concerning also

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ClearlyCylindrical t1_it4rtjo wrote

How so?

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igneousink t1_it4spoy wrote

specifically elon, i guess

the whole thing feels like an ego trip and yeah i get it, i guess i would be all out there too if i was rich, but there's a lax-ness that is concerning on his part

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phred14 t1_it5bdnh wrote

I used to think of him as Heinlein's "D.D. Harriman" (The Man Who Sold the Moon) in real life. But the more he shoots his mouth off and pulls silly stunts, the more I think of his Mars ideas as the Ultimate Doomsday Prepper, with plans for an out of this world bunker - on Mars.

To be fair, he did more than anyone else to push acceptance of electric cars, to take them from boring to desirable. He also moved the launch business to re-usable and closer to commonplace.

But when he opens his mouth, it can make it hard to remember the good things.

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nowakezones t1_it6qbpm wrote

Laxness like perfect execution, over and over and over again?

Elon has his personal flaws, but SpaceX is not one of them.

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igneousink t1_it8d2xv wrote

You do have a point and I appreciate the commentary.

Gives me something to think about.

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