IMO satellite to satellite communication is going to be SpaceX's equivalent of Tesla's FSD: always just around the corner.

They only need to point the lasers at the next bird ahead and behind, and each packet just goes down if it can, or forward or backward according to which is closer to a downlink, unless it is for a special customer.

The main use for the lasers will be to offer super-low inter- and transcontinental latency to hedge funds paying thousands of times as much as a normal subscriber. They won't do anybody else but marine customers much good.

They've launched the lasers. You think alignment is so hard they won't manage it in the next year? I'm not that pessimistic.

I do believe that, yes. and that's not the hardest part in the whole thing. the scheduling is.

Also, this is a weird program for Starlink. Why not just subsidize the terminal cost and monthly plan to any low income area without access to fast wired internet? When fast wired internet makes it to that area stop offering the subsidy. Starlink is unique that removing the subsidy doesn't leave stranded capital assets. Then the FCC could award all the blocks to fiber providers but if they don't make it for another decade or so, the people will at least have decent internet in the meantime.