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Re:Amazon satellites add to astronomers' worries about night... by renewiltord on Friday August 14, 2020 @04:42AM (#24155435)
> This is not scientific progress, this is just two billionaires trying to one up each other and muscling their way around the world to rub their egos.

Starlink claims to have other objectives. Why do you think their stated objectives are dishonest?

Re:Amazon satellites add to astronomers' worries about night... by DoingIsLearning on Friday August 14, 2020 @05:13AM (#24155615)
Internet service is a solved problem, you have transoceanic cables and distribution networks which garantee reliable, high bandwith, internet service.

This is a gimmick to sell the imaginary joy that you can go anywhere remotely and enjoy the pleasures of the modern connected world. There are already niche providers for Satellite services that users can use, if they are truly isolated and are able to afford internet.

There is no sense in having all of this infrastructure duplicated and done via RF transmission over a low-orbiting constellation (with all the losses and realibility issues around it), if it can easily be achieved through expanding the existing infrastructure.

The only use-cases that this serves are high-income people that want to go off-grid but are unwilling to sacrifice high-bandwith, and military deployments (Which SpaceX does not hide as an objective).