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Good for the internet but what about space debris ?
Headlines Elon Musk Unveils Interplanetary Transport System
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Cashmere
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The FCC would only give SpaceX approval if they have a plan to deal with space debris and if they keep the satellites at a very low altitude altitude of 550KM (comparitively GPS satellites sit at an altitude of 20,000KM). My understanding is that SpaceX has desinged the satellites to completely burnup on reentry to earth if they need to be retrieved and outside of this first batch of 60 satellites, all subsequent iterations will have no dense metallic components (which will be an even more impressive engineering feat considering these satellites are about the size of a car and will travel at a speeds of +10,000 KM per hour in orbit for at least 5 years.
There's a good write up on the design of these satellites on IEEE Spectrum (remove the space after the s):
s pectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/aerospace/satellites/spacex-claims-to-have-redesigned-its-starlink-satellites-to-eliminate-casualty-risks
Cashmere
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What we’re seeing here is inception of the spacecraft that will take mankind to Mars and beyond. It’s running the new Raptor engine which is a clean sheet design from SpaceX and it’s incredibly hard to state what an insane marvel of engineering the raptor engine is.
It’s the first ever closed cycle rocket engine which is a concept that has been talked about for decades but nobody has been able to achieve until now.
Also, it runs on Methane (which is considerably easier to manufacture on Mars) and its designed to fly 50 Million KM and back. SpaceX has accelerated the timeline of going to Mars by at least 2 decades.
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I would love to witness this in person!
Cashmere
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This is a post written by a (former) engineer from NASA’s jet propulsion lab. I encourage anyone who works in the Telco industry to read this. Super interesting and he breaks down Starlink‘s capability from an engineering and economics perspective and why Starlink is a big deal from an internet infrastructure perspective.
https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2019/11/02/starlink-is-a-very-big-deal/
TLDR:
1. Compares current cost of The SEA-WE-ME 4 is a major submarine cable running from France to Singapore, commissioned in 2005. It is capable of transmitting 1.28Tb/s, and cost about $500m to deploy. If it operates for 10 years equivalent 100% capacity, with a 100% overhead for capital costs, then the price per bit works out to be $0.02/GB. Transatlantic cables are shorter and a bit cheaper, but the undersea cable is just one entity in a long line of people who need money to deliver data.
2. He estimates every starlink satellite can easily transmit 1TB of data per orbit (every 90 minutes). "Even taking into account its ludicrously low usage fraction, a Starlink satellite can deliver 30 PB of data over its lifetime at an amortized cost of $0.003/GB, with practically no marginal cost increase for transmission over a longer distance." Starlink will be 8 times cheaper to deploy than laying undersea cable.
3. This makes a fully deployed constellation the cheapest and fastest way to send data around the world. And it's so cheap for SpaceX that they can choose their price-point for maximum profit, up to the point of taking over almost all global internet traffic.
In short, we are about to transition from the era of spaghetti internet to the laser internet age and Starlink is going to become the biggest telecom company on the planet.
https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2019/11/02/starlink-is-a-very-big-deal/
TLDR:
1. Compares current cost of The SEA-WE-ME 4 is a major submarine cable running from France to Singapore, commissioned in 2005. It is capable of transmitting 1.28Tb/s, and cost about $500m to deploy. If it operates for 10 years equivalent 100% capacity, with a 100% overhead for capital costs, then the price per bit works out to be $0.02/GB. Transatlantic cables are shorter and a bit cheaper, but the undersea cable is just one entity in a long line of people who need money to deliver data.
2. He estimates every starlink satellite can easily transmit 1TB of data per orbit (every 90 minutes). "Even taking into account its ludicrously low usage fraction, a Starlink satellite can deliver 30 PB of data over its lifetime at an amortized cost of $0.003/GB, with practically no marginal cost increase for transmission over a longer distance." Starlink will be 8 times cheaper to deploy than laying undersea cable.
3. This makes a fully deployed constellation the cheapest and fastest way to send data around the world. And it's so cheap for SpaceX that they can choose their price-point for maximum profit, up to the point of taking over almost all global internet traffic.
In short, we are about to transition from the era of spaghetti internet to the laser internet age and Starlink is going to become the biggest telecom company on the planet.
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I am thinking about going to Florida for Artemis 2 or Artemis 3 launch! Artemis 1 is next week I believe, straight to the moon.
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Just leave a few days margin for weather related delays.
Gianclaudio
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And prepare to scorch yourself. 
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And prepare to scorch yourself.
I live in Europe, scorching is part of the new deal here.
Heatwaves everywhere. No rain.
CrunchSlaughtered
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No rain, no Rhine
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Saw Delta IV Heavy launch from Cape Canaveral in August 2018. Life-changing experience.
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I live in the UK so I'm not too concerned, I know the rain will be here soon, it always is. Enjoying the weather while I can.
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I would be concerned if I were you. Climate change is more dangerous than all these silly wars combined.
I can't even imagine how awesome this was! Envy!
Rhine entering The Netherlands is at the lowest it has EVER been. It's unreal.
Fun fact: the Rhine is in the top three of oldest rivers in the world. More than 10 million years of flowing around.
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