I strongly believe connecting cars (specifically Tesla cars) to the internet permanently so they can act as a giant data vacuum sucking up telemetry and improving maps is literally the reason why Starlink exists. Level 5 self-driving is going to require amazing map data and real time feedback on the state of roads, traffic, etc. Starlink is a very clear route to getting that data.

That's funny because I assumed StarLink was just a way to launch more rockets. Seems like there are enough synergies in the Musk empire to make this a really worthwhile endeavor.

That's my understanding as well - that if you have that kind of lift capacity you can make $x selling it to other or if $10x putting up your own satellites for something like Starlink.

That's funny because I assumed Starlink was just a POC for "best way to have internet on Mars".

That's funny because I just assumed Elon found another old and inefficient monopoly to disrupt.

It's this one.

Starlink is an easy way to make oodles of money, which they can redirect toward getting to Mars.

They can launch their satellites at cost (or less, if they sell ride sharing). No other telecom can do that. And their customer cost is already fraction of everyone else's.

Add to that their mass-production optimized satellites, and no one else can even touch them. There is a very good chance that Starlink will achieve its goal of printing money.

I like the idea of a networked sat based computer based on solar energy for computations, radiation for cooling, thermally neutral. The real "cloud". Free from earthly constraints and free of gross externalities.

everyone in this thread is right and deserves upvotes

including you and me.

Ars has updated its article to say Musk has poured cold water on the idea of Starlink for Tesla cars:

Update 6 pm EST: Although a SpaceX filing said that Starlink terminals could be deployed "on passenger cars," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk indicated on Twitter today that passenger cars are not in the plan. "Not connecting Tesla cars to Starlink, as our terminal is much too big. This is for aircraft, ships, large trucks & RVs," he wrote.

I read that as Elon saying they won't connect Teslas to Starlink until the terminal is smaller, not that they won't connect them ever. I don't know much about the tech though. Maybe they're already as small as they can be.

Please, that kind of data can be already obtained from the cars over 4G/Wifi. Even when cars are not in range for some time, you can easily store whatever you want on local ssd if needed/wanted (and pleas don't tell me that you would like to send more data over satellites than you can store locally and then send over ground connection ;) )

Nope: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1369051431903268865

Seems like buying more data for the LTE modems already in the cars would be easier / cheaper path than building a fleet of novel satellites and launching them into space?

Can we please opt-in? The data is valuable etc... but it should be be voluntary.

Do we have information whether Starlink satellites have cameras on-board? I was just wondering one day that it would make sense to use the satellites itself to build real-time maps.

Tesla cars are already connected through 4G/5G (when there's coverage) and they also store video feed in their memory, which they upload when the car connects to Wifi.

Almost certainly not. AFAIK the technology to do street-level imagery from satellites is still mostly only on government spy satellites, and certainly isn’t cheap enough to put on thousands of nearly-disposable sats. The type of imagery you see from Google Maps is taken from airplanes.

There's a company called Planet that offers daily satellite images with down to 50cm resolution. https://www.planet.com

The satellite imagery is from Google's Keyhole satellites. But the bird's eye view zoom levels are from aircraft.

I know this is true for Bing Maps, but I thought Google Maps used photogrammetry or LIDAR to create a synthetic 3D view.

Two challenges: finding enough clear sky, and having enough power.

Everything above 25 degrees needs to be clear. With even more satellites, it may start to tolerate individual tree-size obstacles, but right now the requirements are harsh.

The dish consumes about 100 Watts when in use.

I’m happy with the status quo of going to wilderness as one of the only ways to get people to leave their phones alone.

Just leave your devices at home then.

I think parent means 'other people'. At least, I would, in their shoes.

This is definitely a benefit of getting out into the wilderness, but people dying in emergencies is definitely a higher priority than you being unable to turn your antenna off.

Devices like “spot” which allow a distress signal to be sent exist. Some can tether to your phone so you can use the phone to enter a message.

I just miss the days before screens