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Re:Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm by mabbo on Tuesday February 08, 2022 @10:06PM (#30268234)
We didn't hand them anything. SpaceX took the risk of being a first mover in a very difficult field and looks to have had their bet pay off.

There's room for more satellites. Space is pretty big, and with some careful automated coordination we can avoid collisions. But someone else needs to first figure out how to cheaply launch a competing fleet, and I doubt anyone will come close for years.

Re:Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm by jayd16 on Tuesday February 08, 2022 @10:37PM (#30268464)
I think its a fair question. Handing out unlimited well water rights in the 1860s was also probably seen as not giving away anything. There's plenty of water.
Re:Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm by liamkinne on Tuesday February 08, 2022 @11:49PM (#30268967)
The difference is SpaceX don’t have these orbits forever. The satellites will fall back to earth and congress can enact regulations that limit the number of them launched in the future.
Re:Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm by arwineap on Wednesday February 09, 2022 @12:13AM (#30269114)
Amazon's Project Kuiper

Behind, but it's there

Re:Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm by mabbo on Wednesday February 09, 2022 @08:51AM (#30272575)
Launching on what, exactly?

Right now they have 9 launches planned using Atlas 5. That's not going to get them a usable fleet of satellites. If they want to launch anything beyond that, Blue Origin must finish the BE-4: a rocket engine years behind schedule. (Either using them for Vulcan rockets or for the New Glenn).

From Amazon's perspective, those 9 launches are money wasted if BO doesn't come through. I'd be ecstatic if they did, but my money is on yet another delay from them.

If I had to guess, by the time Kuiper is launching enough satellites to matter, SpaceX will be doing the same thing using Starship at an order of magnitude lower cost. And I don't even think Starship will be doing real launches for years.

Re:Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm by aerospace_guy on Wednesday February 09, 2022 @01:25PM (#30276205)
Amazon can launch Kuiper satellites on any launch vehicle, not just New Glenn.
Re:Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm by mabbo on Wednesday February 09, 2022 @04:29PM (#30278773)
Sure, but who has capacity to take on any serious number of launches? And who can do it at a competitive price to make Kuiper anything but a financial disaster?

The answer is: nobody.

What made Starlink financially possible was SpaceX's lower launch costs and high capacity.

Re:Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm by Aretas77 on Wednesday February 09, 2022 @02:33AM (#30269985)
I agree that space can accommodate these satellites, but what about the used up resources required to build the satellites? The shortage of natural resources, as of now, will only worsen and the losses are more costly than the price - its always possible to print more money but its not possible to print more resources.
Re:Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm by mabbo on Wednesday February 09, 2022 @08:52AM (#30272590)
2000 satellites, each a few hundred kg?

What's the typical daily production of cars in the USA? And how much materials do they use?