• player2@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 year ago

    Low Earth orbit is the safest orbit because the orbits will naturally degrade due to friction with the atmosphere and fall back to Earth after a set number of years without a boost.

    Higher orbits are much worse because the satellites can be there forever and clog up space. Space is really big though, and we are not close to blotting out the sky with satellites, but we want to encourage the use of low Earth orbit whenever possible so we have control over it.

    • 0x815@feddit.deOP
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      1 year ago

      What I mean is that such a communications system should not be controlled by a private company or a person. That should be under public control.

        • ass_troll@beehaw.org
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          1 year ago

          Nasa does the r&d on tech that they hand off to private companies so they can make a profit…

          Sure spacex can clutter up leo but i dont see them sending probes to the outer solar system, maintaining a deep space network, working with the russians on a space station, or any of the other numerous things governmental space agencies can and have accomplished.

          It feels like you’re ignoring the giants whose shoulders lil musky is standing on.

        • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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          1 year ago

          I mean, they did space travel in the first place, during peacetime. An unsettled peacetime, but peace none-the-less.

        • Tim@programming.dev
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          1 year ago

          I feel like few people are aware of the billions it cost to deploy and maintain a large scale LEO constellation. If it would come 100% from taxes, people would get mad

        • 0x815@feddit.deOP
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          1 year ago

          It must not be the state or the government that controls such systems. Imho, these communications networks are commons and could be managed as such -e.g., by a cooperative or a cooperative-like entity, maybe even by a DAO im some cases.

    • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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      1 year ago

      All true, but blotting out the sky isn’t what everyone’s afraid of. A chain reaction of space junk impacts that locks us on Earth for a century or two would be the worst case scenario.