![]() This hundred-fold difference in altitude matters. So far, nearly 1,600 Starlink satellites are in orbit, in a criss-crossing pattern at 342 miles (550 km) up. The downside of flying so low is that they won’t stay in orbit as long, but SpaceX is launching them significantly faster than they’re coming down. In what seemed like an insane pipe dream at the time, they planned to launch a satellite constellation of 12,000 birds, some of them flying as low as 214 mile altitude. SpaceX opted to do something a bit different. To quote Grace Hopper, holding a nearly foot-long length of wire representing a nanosecond, “Between here and the satellite, there are a very large number nanoseconds.” Hughesnet, another provider, has a handful of satellites in geostationary orbit, which is about 22,000 miles above the earth. ![]() And while satellite Internet isn’t exactly new, Starlink is a bit different. Wireless and cellular internet have helped in some places, but if you really live out in the sticks, satellite internet is your only option. Starlink is SpaceX’s satellite Internet service. Having excess launch capacity means that space projects that were previously infeasible become suddenly at least plausible. ![]() But the side-effect of SpaceX’s reusable launch system is that getting to space has become a lot cheaper. ![]() I catch their launches when I can, and I’ve watched the development of Starship with great interest. I could probably be described as a SpaceX enthusiast. ![]()
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