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Comment on SpaceX projected 20 million Starlink users by 2022—it ended up with 1 million

One thing this article doesn’t get into is whether it is an issue of customer demand or incorrect estimates on how many customers Starlink can handle.

Musk is a dumbass, unserious douche. But from everyone I’ve heard from who has Starlink and NEEDS it, it’s a godsend. For rural and mobile users (van life, RVs, boats, etc) I don’t think there is a better option.

Another question is whether this Starlink service should be nationalized or at least duplicated by other countries. I’m uncomfortable with it being used for war as it is honestly. It’s a supposed civilian, consumer aimed service that I think arguably can be considered a military target right now. Countries like Russia could make an argument for attacking these satellites. And for countries like Ukraine that are relying on it, having it being at the whims of someone like Musk also seems like it isn’t optimal.

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SkyezOpen@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

Countries like Russia could make an argument for attacking these satellites.

Russia’s best shot would be accidentally crashing a lunar lander into one.

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- charliespider@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  They’d probably fail at that too
  
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  - demlet@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    They just need to try and land on one, that’s the trick.
    
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- Illuminostro@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Like when the US crashed a lander into Mars. Good times.
  
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  - SkyezOpen@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Uhh, yeah in 1999. Proving yet again that Russia is stuck 20+ years behind us technologically.
    
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    Illuminostro@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    “But… but… muh daddy can beat up yur daddy!”
    
    Brilliant.
    
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PFShady@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
My parents have it because of where they live. The only other option they had was century link DSL at 1.5Mbps. Now she can watch streaming services, work from home, etc. The service has been great, Musk is a douche.

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dustyData@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

It’s a supposed civilian, consumer aimed service

The internet was invented to wage war. It’s not an admirable goal, but it’s what it was made for. Only after the fact did we turn it into the banal meme stream it is now. When SpaceX requested permission to the FAA to launch its hundreds of thousands of garbage cans, military infrastructure backup was actually part of the pitch to justify the sky contamination. And military operations are not just about destroying things and killing people. Military operations include rescuing the wounded and safeguarding civilians from harm. Armies need to have good communications for this, to avoid destroying non-military targets, reduce the risk of collateral damage, coordinate evacuations and to defend themselves from the opposing force. A communication network should be a neutral channel, what Musk has done with it is to politicize and weaponize it, like the Russians weaponize medical care, judicial freedom and other things that should be basic human rights but are used to coerce individuals to commit atrocities against others.

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