News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Satellite warfare: An arms race is brewing in orbit by cevans01 on Thursday August 20, 2020 @03:54PM (#24228019)
If we held satellite operators liable for damages from collisions, they may be incentivized to acquire insurance against collision events. And underwriters would incentivize satellite operators to reduce that risk by giving lower premiums to operators that use collision avoidance systems like drag sails and/or propulsion.
Re:Satellite warfare: An arms race is brewing in orbit by chmod775 on Friday August 21, 2020 @12:15AM (#24231901)
Similar to safety with fission energy, this is not something where you want to apply financial incentives, because you don't want companies to take that risk ever. People may say: "If it goes wrong, I guess my company goes bankrupt. But it's unlikely enough that'd I'd take that risk." - like they're gambling at a stock exchange or something.

If anything ever goes wrong and something like the Kessler syndrome occurs, humanity will be so monumentally screwed you'll have trouble putting a dollar amount on the amount of damage done. No amount of insurance is going to make it right. It will be a large setback for humanity as a whole.

What you want to do is: Have companies follow the precautions you dictate and ensure compliance before they're allowed to launch.

Re:Satellite warfare: An arms race is brewing in orbit by segfaultbuserr on Thursday August 20, 2020 @10:43PM (#24231439)
"UL standards for satellites" sounds like a pretty presumable scenario. Extrapolating how the UL standards are currently used in the industry, private space corporations may even refuse to launch the satellite, provide or accept services if it's not certified.