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Re:How satellite ‘megaconstellations’ will photobomb astrono... by gambiting on Thursday August 27, 2020 @06:03AM (#24291947)
Exactly, if China launched thousands of satellites ruining everyone's astronomy efforts I'm sure there would be an uproar. But US doing it? Fine, business as usual.
Re:How satellite ‘megaconstellations’ will photobomb astrono... by tssva on Thursday August 27, 2020 @06:33AM (#24292168)
The US isn't doing it. Companies are doing it. As stated in the article the company which is currently planning to place satellites at a height likely to have the greatest impact is OneWeb which is a UK company. It is soon to be controlled by the UK government and an Indian conglomerate. The satellites it launches are built by a joint venture which includes Airbus.
Re:How satellite ‘megaconstellations’ will photobomb astrono... by gambiting on Thursday August 27, 2020 @06:59AM (#24292355)
>>The US isn't doing it. Companies are doing it.

Well, that isn't really a useful distinction in any sense of the word. The American companies are doing it, because they are allowed to do so by their country. Most countries which have any kind of space capability have their own space agencies which say what is or isn't ok to launch. If the American space agencies approve things like Starlink, then the pollution of the Earth's view into space isn't purely on Elon Musk.

Re:How satellite ‘megaconstellations’ will photobomb astrono... by ideals on Thursday August 27, 2020 @10:29AM (#24294028)
Due to ITAR regulations SpaceX and Amazon couldn't do it anywhere else either.
Re:How satellite ‘megaconstellations’ will photobomb astrono... by mikro2nd on Thursday August 27, 2020 @07:43AM (#24292660)
The USA is doing it: The permitting authority is a US government agency taking unilateral decisions that affect the entire globe.
Re:How satellite ‘megaconstellations’ will photobomb astrono... by gorgoiler on Friday August 28, 2020 @01:54AM (#24301753)
”The US isn’t doing it”

Point of order: intercontinental missiles, rockets, and radio telecommunications are highly regulated industries. The US regulators have approved (and not stopped) Starlink on both fronts. I do not know if there’s any international / UN body that performs the same roles?

Re:How satellite ‘megaconstellations’ will photobomb astrono... by simion314 on Thursday August 27, 2020 @06:38AM (#24292204)
Have you read the paranoia about TikTok?

I can see it "Trump: China puts 10000 eyes on the sky, they pretend they want to give Internet to the poor but they have cameras and spy on the traffic, and some reliable sources told me they can release viruses from this satellites in a targets back yard, this needs to stop , I will build a space wall and China will pay for it...