Elon's Starlink Is In Big Trouble......

[USALiberal]

Elon’s miracle internet just had the rug pulled from under it, and it could derail his future space plans.

Elon got his billionaire start by redefining the internet with PayPal. But his future success is tied to revolutionising how we access the internet with Starlink. Starlink’s vast constellation of satellites enables us to access high-speed internet anywhere on Earth, without the use of pesky cables or mobile towers. To say this is a game changer is an understatement. Moreover, Starlink will also change the space race beyond recognition, as its profits will prop up Musk’s spacecraft manufacturing corporation, SpaceX, allowing them to build vast fleets of Starships and even fund a Mars mission. But this vital lynchpin for Musk’s plans was recently dealt a massive blow that could derail his master plan. The big question is, can Musk solve this crisis?

The massive blow came from the FCC pulling $888.5 million worth of funding. Back in 2020, the FCC gave Starlink this subsidy to provide internet access to rural communities. But according to the FCC, Starlink failed to meet the criteria of this subsidy as it was too slow and too expensive, which is why their subsidy was recently removed. For some context on this figure, Starlink’s estimated current annual revenue from subscriptions is $500 million. This means that, in one fell swoop, the FCC just eliminated 64% of Starlink’s income. For any business, such a significant drop in turnover is precarious, but for Starlink, it could become catastrophic.

… more at link

https://medium.com/predict/starlink-is-in-big-trouble-a7798b2c2fe1

[Hela]

1. Good! Now let's figure out how to shoot them down.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/starlink-satellites-are-photo-bombing-astronomy-images

[Taylor Picker]

4. I didn't realize that SpaceX owns more than 1/3 of satellites orbiting earth.

Last edited Wed Aug 24, 2022, 04:48 PM - Edit history (1)

...and plans to launch 1,000 more every year.

[USALiberal]

20. Great info!

[2naSalit]

5. +1

[cbdo2007]

10. realistically, at the rate they are launched and how often they pass directly over....

a specific spot on Earth, and they are only "photobombing" for a week or so after launch while they are moving into place....astronomers still have unobstructed skies 99.9% of the time.

[Wingus Dingus]

2. Why couldn't the FCC give Starlink more time? I hate to see something so potentially

useful and beneficial have the rug pulled out from under it. I had hoped the cost would eventually go down and the coverage improved as more people signed up. I had planned on using it in my RV, in the future. I know, everyone hates Musk and wants to see his rich-guy ass kicked, but seriously, Starlink interested me.

[LunaSea]

3. Happens a lot to aerospace startups.

Exactly why you don't make the US government your primary customer, especially
when you are doing novel things.

[Meadowoak]

6. I'm still on the starlink waiting list. Estimated for late 2022.

So, I don't know if I should apply for a refund or just wait and see if happens or not. I'm in rural KY, and nothing is available here but very expensive very slow internet.

[CentralMass]

7. That is unfortunate. From the article it sounds like only 3k out of 42k sattalites have been put in

orbit. It sounds like the promised bandwidth won't occur until many more sattalites are in place and the cost won't cone down without a large number of subscribers.

[uponit7771]

14. It's 700 for hardware and 100 a month! Musk is reminding me of Benedict Donald on some levels ...

... the more he does the more it sounds like you have to look into what he does.

[former9thward]

23. Well we should look at what he DOES as opposed to internet posters

who only contribution is to type on their keyboards "Support Ukriane!"

Ukrainian soldier says Elon Musk's Starlink satellites 'changed the war in Ukraine's favor' as they're helping troops stay online amid Russian strikes

Elon Musk's Starlink system has been active in Ukraine since the early days of Russia's invasion.

A Ukrainian soldier said that Elon Musk's Starlink satellites "changed the war in Ukraine's favor" because they were helping troops stay online amid Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure.

"I want to say one thing: Elon Musk's Starlink is what changed the war in Ukraine's favor," said Dima, who said he had been fighting alongside Ukrainian forces since March, according to Patrikarakos.

"Russia went out of its way to blow up all our comms. Now they can't. Starlink works under Katyusha fire, under artillery fire. It even works in Mariupol," Dima said, per Patrikarakos.

https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-starlink-satellites-helping-ukraine-fight-soldier-2022-4

[uponit7771]

24. Musk was reimbursed for the equipment want he? tia

[former9thward]

25. The internet is free.

The SpaceX founder has provided over 12,000 Starlink dishes to Ukraine so far, Mykhailo Fedorov, the minister for digital transformation, said in an interview on Monday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Those terminals are proving crucial in supporting infrastructure across Ukraine as it wages its own information war on social media against Russia.

Ukraine is getting the help from Musk free of charge, according to Fedorov, who added there may be a different arrangement between Musk and the US Agency for International Development and European entities which provided most of the Starlinks to Ukraine. He didn’t elaborate.

“All critical infrastructure uses Starlink, all structures that are needed for the state’s functioning use them,” Fedorov said. “We need to receive them constantly because they are one of the elements of the foundation of our fight and resilience.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-23/ukraine-urges-musk-s-starlink-to-keep-helping-alongside-weapons

What is your point? Everything should be free or its bad? GM and Ford made a profit making tanks during WW II and no one complained. Of course there wasn't discussion boards back then.

[yonder]

8. So if HIS project does flop, how will HE remove HIS trash from OUR shared skies?

[cbdo2007]

9. they will burn up in the atmosphere

[Bristlecone]

11. So he has 30 billion for Twitter, but not 900 million for STARLINK?

His own company? Sounds like some BS to me.

[UTUSN]

12. K&R

[uponit7771]

13. WOW !!! Its 700 for hardware etc. and 100 a month !!! WTF !? REALLY ?! For Sat connection?!

[hunter]

16. It was a stupid idea to begin with.

If we can bring roads, electricity, and telephone service to everyone, surely we can bring high speed internet to everyone along the same right-of-ways.

My great grandparents ranch, which was in the middle of nowhere, had electricity and telephone service thanks to FDR.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_Electrification_Act

Fiber optic cable is always going to be preferable to space junk.

In the bigger picture, do we really need high speed internet access everywhere, for everyone, to use for any reason?

Can we maybe leave some places wild, emergency services only?

[cilla4progress]

17. Ummmm...

I'm in rural Washington state.

Starlink is/was our only option and is a huge benefit. It allows me to help poor people navigate the legal system (clients).

I hate Musk and all he stands for, so am very conflicted.

OTOH, I never shop at Walmart, and buy all my meat humanely or from local farmers, raise my own hens (laying), and buy only organic veggies and dairy.

So...it's a tradeoff.

But thought I should add this perspective.

[USALiberal]

19. I can see your point! Nt

[miyazaki]

21. Amazon's Project Kuiper will directly compete with Musk

on the satellite internet frontier. It's a few years away though. Choose your poison I suppose. One leg up Amazon will have is their vast ground infrastructure already in place to handle the terrestrial topology.

I agree with Hunters statements above though. The Connect America Act or whatever it was called was literally hit and miss to roll out nationwide broadband, even fraudulent in part as the lawsuits attest to. But wherever there is big money there is big fraud, especially in America.

[Mr. Sparkle]

18. 890 million to the richest man in the world is like pocket change

so don't rejoice just yet

[edhopper]

22. First

How was it funded? Over how many years? If it wasn't a one time payment, then that percent of annual income isn't accurate. And if it is one time, then that annual income was only for one year.

Also, Starlink requires buying a $599 earth station, so it isn't the answer for poor rural areas.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/commissioner-slams-fcc-for-denying-886m-in-funding-to-starlink