Re:SpaceX lowering orbits of 4,400 Starlink satellites for s...
by ben_w on Thursday January 22, 2026 @06:59AM
(#46718131)
When it happens, it no longer provides global internet.
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Re:SpaceX lowering orbits of 4,400 Starlink satellites for s...
by tonyhart7 on Thursday January 22, 2026 @07:04AM
(#46718167)
interstellar internet ???
Re:SpaceX lowering orbits of 4,400 Starlink satellites for s...
by ben_w on Thursday January 22, 2026 @07:10AM
(#46718219)
If you smash up your router, your router does not magically get better, it simply fails to provide any internet.
The same happens with orbiting routers, e.g. Starlink satellites.
Re:SpaceX lowering orbits of 4,400 Starlink satellites for s...
by tonyhart7 on Thursday January 22, 2026 @11:46AM
(#46721707)
and we would fix that shit, you acting like its impossible problem
Re:SpaceX lowering orbits of 4,400 Starlink satellites for s...
by ben_w on Thursday January 22, 2026 @12:18PM
(#46722152)
A Kessler cascade necessarily requires the density of shrapnel destroys basically everything in that orbit. Below the density where this happens, it isn't a Kessler cascade in the first place.
You would be forced by (currently around) 2000 tons worth of bullet-mass shrapnel to wait for that shrapnel to de-orbit. Depending on the orbit, this takes months to millenia, because it's determined by atmospheric drag.
The lower the orbit, the better. Starlink's orbits got lowered, this is better vs. that particular issue.