Where I live in Florida, roofs routinely get hotter than that. Listed temps measure air temp, in a ventilated box 5 feet above grass. This is nothing like being on a roof in Summer here. We aren't a desert and we have tens of millions of people. This isn't going to work.

An aside, I was dating a woman from The North. She came here and we were travelling around the State. We stopped in Venice at a restaurant, I wasn't paying attention, and she just hopped out of the car barefoot! Only did that once, though.

This would be absolutely wild to do in “the North” during summer as well.

You are living in a city affected by global warming

I live in America's wang. Another few decades of "Global Improvement™" and the USA will be a eunuch.

Everyone is.

An object in direct sunlight is going to get hotter than the ambient air temperature.

especially when it's in direct sunlight sitting above roofing asphalt. Air temps can get up to 150 F without too much trouble on building roofs with a dark material.

Very few places have air temperatures that hot, but in most of the US the surface of a metal fixture right under the sun can and will exceed 122F.

A sizable portion of the world has reached 45 C or higher.

And you have to keep in mind the temperature is measured in particular ways, local temps near dark surfaces can get significantly higher.

I think the issue is that these dishes might be routinely mounted onto roofs, concrete pads, asphalt pads, etc. And, by requirement, in direct sun. Where the temperature could be significantly hotter than the air temperature you hear on a weather report.

+55-56C is about is the hottest AIR temp you'll get globally. Pretty common to see telecomm gear that falls in line with this max temp. The +55C does not include heat from direct sunlight/insolation. Unless rated for much higher temps, you'll need a sun shade for your gear out in the field. Problem with Starlink is that with a sun shade you'd most likely lose line of sight to the sats or attenuate the signal badly.

Even in Northern Europe, a car parked in direct sunlight can easily get to 70C (160F) inside. In winter the same car may be expected to start up straight away without issues at -30C (-22F).

While most modern car much of the time manage to start at -30C indeed, "expected" is overstating it. You really need one with an engine heater.

Well I expect it of my car, and it hasn't let me down yet :-)

Spain, or the deserts of Africa, California, Chile, or the southwestern US, as well as a good chunk of the middle east? What about anywhere along the equator?

I guess you could consider border states of Mexico as the same geographical region as the southwestern US, but those too. Anecdotal, but I've seen routine thermal throttling on macs in a border state with outdoor temperatures of 45, ambient indoor temperatures of 30-33, so you basically need either AC or some other external cooling system to manage more performance than a web browser and office apps.

I have heard anecdotal stories of the adhesive on rear-view mirrors of cars literally melting in the Phoenix sun (which can hit 120 F / 49 C or worse). So your story is not surprising at all, sadly

In addition to what people have said about the temperature of surfaces in direct sunlight, you have to account for the power the electronics are using. The aluminum backplate is serving multiple purposes, but judging by the gap pad they are using and RF electronics in general, it's likely a non-trivial amount of power.

This isn't the hottest month though. And the air temperature doesn't have to be 122F, just the dish.

Palm Springs CA gets that hot, especially inside a vehicle.

You don’t put a star link inside a vehicle

That's true, but also -- an object sitting outside in the sun is going to exceed, or greatly exceed depending on the materials, the ambient temperature.

When the ambient temperature is 123°F (e.g. yesterday) where are you supposed to out it? Does the terminal work indoors? Even on cooler days in the low 100s your home's roof is going to be significantly warmer than 120f

A piece of metal sitting in the sun can get that hot pretty easily in lots of places, even if the ambient temperature is much more reasonable.

it’s not about the air temperature. it’s surface temperature. i was at the beach the other day when it was only like 75 degrees but the sand was hot enough to burn my feet.

In the desert sun it will be higher than 50 degrees.

Synthetic turf fields at your local park can get as hot 160 degrees pretty easily.