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Re:US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for SpaceX Sta... by adgjlsfhk1 on Wednesday December 13, 2023 @12:11PM (#38630453)
> Or Musk could cut off Ukraine's capacity, which the US military admits is consuming hundreds of millions in Starlink capacity that could be allocated to US consumers to speed up their internet

Satellites in LEO over Ukraine can't provide service to the US. (and because of the way orbits work a LEO satellite that spends time over the US will also spend time over Ukraine)

Re:US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for SpaceX Sta... by 2devnull on Wednesday December 13, 2023 @12:42PM (#38631068)
Is there not internet bandwidth involved? Bandwidth for one person means less bandwidth for another, doesn’t it?
Re:US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for SpaceX Sta... by ianburrell on Wednesday December 13, 2023 @12:51PM (#38631229)
Internet bandwidth in America and Ukraine are completely separate. Starlink is mostly bent-pipe, sending signals to station in view of the satellite. Over remote areas, the satellites need to talk to each other to relay signals. But my understanding is that goes to the closest ground station.
Re:US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for SpaceX Sta... by nomel on Wednesday December 13, 2023 @08:29PM (#38636696)
How Starlink works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs2QcycggWU

Its nearest ground station bounced off nearest satellite, or some inter-satellite laser links to make some hops, then to the user. It's optimized to be shortest route, just like routers with the wired internet you're using now: if you stream a movie, that request goes to in a short path from the server to you. You streaming doesn't slow down someone in China, because the data never approaches any equipment in China. Same with Starlink. Their data never approaches any starlink satellites in the US. When they get the whole grid laser link working, then it might, but it will still approach being optimal, with ground stations used as needed.

Ground vs laser is a latency thing, more than a bandwidth thing. No need to stream Netflix with low latency.

Re:US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for SpaceX Sta... by 2devnull on Thursday December 14, 2023 @03:08AM (#38638970)
There are what 150 gateways/ground stations. That’s a finite number, no?
Re:US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for SpaceX Sta... by adgjlsfhk1 on Thursday December 14, 2023 @02:03PM (#38645635)
a ground station in the US can't see a satellite over Ukraine
Re:US agency will not reinstate $900M subsidy for SpaceX Sta... by 2devnull on Friday December 15, 2023 @02:27AM (#38651861)
Precisely. You need to build ground stations near your users.