Starlink... Whether You Like It Or Not!?
Ok, so, I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I'm more like "hide and watch". I just like to know information, take it at face value, then discuss its potential as a separate issue, to be aware and make others aware. I preface this, because I have seen little talk about what is happening with Starlink, maybe I'm just not it the right Facebook groups. I belong to one Elon Musk group on Facebook, which is more of a casual fan page, which has mentioned it, but outside of that, no one has really mentioned it on my regular news feed.
With the Covid-19 crisis looming large on everyone's mind and discussions, then the anti-quarantine protesters suddenly threatening to make it worse, we have been preoccupied with this shitshow. The primary season, the upcoming Presidential election, The inept White House briefings, that are a joke and have, without help from us, become a meme all by itself.
While this has been going on, Starlink, Elon Musk's solution for fast reliable satellite based broadband internet, has been deploying since May of 2019. They just launched, 04/22/2020, their 8 disbursement of 60 satellites, bringing the total to 420 satellites in orbit. These are in low earth orbit so people all over the world can see these fly by in formation with the naked eye. Starlink has already been approved by the FCC for a total of 12,000 low Earth orbit satellites; like already signed off on it. I read a story the FCC might even be in hot water for that. (The FCC’s Approval of SpaceX’s Starlink Mega Constellation May Have Been Unlawful - Scientific American)
How many people in the public knew about this before it was agreed upon? This does not seem to have been covered very much by the national news media, at least not at the level it should have been. Starlink actually has a plan to cover the Earth's sky with a total of 42,000 satellites eventually. There are so many issues with this; where do I begin? Yeah, having Gigabit, low latency, wireless internet, with a one time setup of some equipment for less than $80 a month is great, but there are other things to consider. First of which, Starlink wants to grid the Earth's sky in a mesh network of 42,000 low orbit satellites, in which Astronomers are already advising that the 420 that are now deployed are interfering with their observations.
Secondly, Starlink is a US company which is only licensed in the United States and governed by its laws. The FCC gave approval for satellites to be deployed that will grid the entire Earth over foreign countries with no guarantee of service initially. Although, Starlink will be available worldwide eventually, it will be available only in the Northern United States and Canada in it's private beta, which will begin in 3 months, and it's public beta which will begin in 6 months. Because it is a US company how much discussion happened with foreign countries before these approvals and decisions were made? Do we want the sky to be covered in 12,000 satellites, much less 42,000? When did they ask us? Besides that, Starlink has a approval from the FCC for the next 15 years so they are clear to do whatever they have planned until 2035, until they have to renew the license.
- Hall-effect ion thrusters: using krypton as the reaction mass, which they are the first craft to use, for position adjustment on orbit, altitude maintenance and deorbit
- Star tracker navigation system: for precision pointing
- Department of Defense-provided autonomous collision avoidance ?!?!?!?!?!?!
I just ask why was there not more public discussion of this before, during its planning? I happen to like Elon Musk. I don't inherently distrust his motives. I think he wants to do great things. He has an eye for the future. He's not stuck in past ideas. He is young and is not encumbered by being overly moral, he believes in Science. Sometimes people don't understand their own motivations, though. People make mistakes.
The next part is pure fiction. These are just thoughts, things to think about, NOT conspiracy theories: What happens to this grid of satellites if the DOD could take them over? What happens if this DOD onboard technology can be used for other purposes? What if there is surveillance equipment already included with these satellites inside the DOD provided technology that is onboard? How do we know it's not? Why was the FCC contract agreed to so quickly without much public debate and why does in seem the FCC is fast tracking this with Space X/Starlink, when there are a few other companies who have had active projects with this same technology for several years?
Basically, you had at least 3 other companies that had plans for their own large broadband satellite internet constellation or satellites already launched; OneWeb constellation, Samsung, and Amazon's Project Kuiper System. And in other news that's not surprising, apparently Amazon is trying to get a waiver to FCC rules that companies like SpaceX and OneWeb had to follow.
Honestly, I just don't trust any of these huge multi-billion dollar companies controlling vast internet networks with the help, technology, and legal trickery of The United States Government. I've read and seen too many dystopian science fiction books and movies to feel comfortable with the promise of some trivial trade off of fast internet speeds and convenience in return for a loss of privacy and total digital mechanisation of our atmosphere. I think we have reached the point where there are so many possibilities of what we can do, that we have stopped asking if we should do these things, that sacrifice so much for so small a sliver of luxury.
- Written By 'Siva de Ferrera [a.k.a. Keith Ferrera]
Copyright © 2020 'Siva de Ferrera (a.k.a. Keith Ferrera)
Copyright © 2020 'Siva de Ferrera (a.k.a. Keith Ferrera)
