SpaceX's 'Starlink' satellite-based internet service will be fast enough for competitive...

[Robertointriago]

How nice to see that someone knows what they're talking about. Anyway, I would like to clarify some issues for you:

Hughes, Viasat, Iridium, Telesat, etc. have been on the market for over 20 years, and update their satellite network every 2-3 years. The service you experienced is probably very different from what it is today.

You are correct about the differences and technical advantages between Low Earth Orbit LEO with those of the Geostationary Orbit GEO. However, you are wrong about SpaceX's exclusive operating permissions. The FCC has granted permits to operate at that distance to many other companies since 2017, including OneWeb (basically Hughes), Certus, Athena, BlueOrigin among others.

The last point I disagree with is not always an advantage to have operational leverage with rocket infrastructure. You have to do a more complete financial analysis. I'm just going to give you an example. Netflix mostly doesn't own its own servers and uses external services such as Amazon AWS, however it is much more successful than Amazon Video who owns its own infrastructure.

To conclude then it would be better to write an article about the new technology that comes with LEO instead of talking particularly about Starlink.

 

[captaincranky]

I applaud Elon for shaking up car builders - but pumping internet to Upper Kenduckistanola is going to bankrupt him.

Na. If the Muskster gets strapped for cash, he could always make another run of his famous "flamethrowers". In fact, he should expand his markets this time. I'm sure Australia would welcome them with open arms right about now.

 

[CharmsD]

I am not doubting that it is possible to create a satellite internet service that is superior to having no service at all.

Elon is a company man with a big company and a big board. I suspect that board will be as intelligent and proactive with Elon as the one who tossed him from X/Paypal, just for being Elon. The SEC (stock market regulators) had to tell Elon to stfu, an order he followed - then got in trouble because he couldn't stay stfu. SEC let him off 'one more time', now, if he shoots his trap breaking rules again it could cost him time, or money, or both.

Elon must be a good engineer, he started young - programming drivers for a game company, he likes building stuff. He's had overwhelming success in business and has leveraged money and confidence gained from that to build things. The first success may have been opportunistic or luck, after that it's a skill. Elon certainly has talent.

Does any thinking person still doubt Elon Musk is a good guy? In his own words:

“Yesterday, there was a wall of Tesla patents in the lobby of our Palo Alto headquarters. That is no longer the case. They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology."​

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His blog post said:​

“Tesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal. Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.”​

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But not even an Elon Musk can build "anything". He (is or has been), so far, into payment cards, rockets, cars, trucks (coming!), superchargers, roofing, powerwalls, solar stuff, hyperloops, batteries, factories, boring machinery, tunnels, merchandising from TBC. And more...

He's also been moderately heavy in political donations and government subsidies (including indirect subsidies). This short-list are not "new" things, the tech ventures he's involved with all preceded him. Is he picking low-hanging fruits to apply his knowledge, business skills, confidence and resources to, in order further enrich Musk, or is he truly driven to create a world with better devices for the benefit of human-kind?

But dismiss that (without a suspension of belief) it's satellite time as Maestro Elon positions Elon to make another mark on SpacE through SpaceX. It's circumstantially convenient he owns a space-rocket company to blast a shitload of satellites, up there. Fast satellites, capable of sub 20ms RRT's....or less/more. Don't ask questions though, lest we be questioned about our motivation for daring to question the Master Answer Man!

I also don't doubt that Elon has access to experts who have already told this to him (nor his ability to know it without needing those experts.) I just think this may be an example where the marketing is a little exaggerated and/or cherry picking the best-possible circumstance even when it may not be very reflective of the average circumstance.

Internet satellites, one thing we all know a lot about are orbiting internet satellites. Battery powered ghetto-balls orbiting Earth with the function to ricochet/reflect radio signals back.

The overlaid complexity is for his engineers, his companies marketing crew, and "experts" to sort out. I don't think fundamental operational problems are insurmountable, it's the "business" side of being an ISP where I think there's possibly a visionary black-hole. Maybe, perhaps. I dunno. We can take hundreds of characteristics into consideration when buying a car, however, ISP service needs only one freakin' SpeedTest to answer our stupid, lame, ill-informed, baseless questions.

Whether this prospect is exaggerated or not, maybe it is an opportune time for satellites....to fill in trubblesome "rural" gaps... as they said. Lol

 

[CharmsD]

Na. If the Muskster gets strapped for cash, he could always make another run of his famous "flamethrowers". In fact, he should expand his markets this time. I'm sure Australia would welcome them with open arms right about now.

Yano, fleets of things in the sky need a naming scheme to keep up with them, what you've scribbed could be the foundation, one that keeps Musky things in the sky nice and Musky.

FT-Moosk-00001 - and so. It begins~!