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by IIIIIIIIIIII
3333 days ago
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To get an impression I think it's a good idea to start with these pictures taken from the ISS [0], which is at about 400 km altitude (it varies a bit but not that much) - https://twistedsifter.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/nasa-earth... - Spain: https://twistedsifter.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/nasa-earth... Note that they are to the side, straight down you would see a much smaller area! So the SpaceX satellites would be three times higher. Still, you can see you may need quite a few stations on the ground, and also why you need so many satellites. They will fly over the area very quickly and by then the communication will already have to have been handed over to the next one. There is so much earth to cover, with satellites much higher up you cover a much wider area and you can have them in a stationary orbit. Earth has a diameter of 12,742 km, I have to keep reminding myself that even the ISS is barely above the surface if you were to look at earth from a distance. [0] Source: http://twistedsifter.com/2015/04/earth-day-gallery-by-nasa/ |
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