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by serf 1071 days ago
>This article frames the problem as if the value proposition of the science and the satellites is remotely similar. This couldn’t be farther from the truth

these kind of world-consequence decisions are supposed to be weighed and judged by The People In Power, rather than justified after the fact.

Yes, telecoms is important; they could have justified that importance before a tribunal of people affected by the installation of the fleet.

What happened instead?

They did what they want, were hit with complaints, and justified the existence afterwards by A) minimizing the impact of the science (absolutely unknown and unpredictable, by the way), much like what you're doing, and B) expounded on the absolute importance of global telecom coverage (a little bit more know-able.)

That's not an appropriate order of events for something that could have prolonged effects on an entire sector of research.
1 comments
rowanG077 1071 days ago
Correct me if I'm wrong but SpaceX did have to get approval. You can't just fire off rockets with payloads willy nilly.
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willdr 1071 days ago
They got approval to pollute the LEO of planet Earth? Who could you possibly go to for approval for that?
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laverya 1071 days ago
Bluntly, the people with the power to stop you from doing so. For SpaceX, that means the US government via the FCC.
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rowanG077 1071 days ago
Yes, granted by the FCC.
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c-hendricks 1071 days ago
The FCC is the LEO authority for the whole planet?
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rowanG077 1070 days ago
There is no LEO authority over the entire world. In fact, and this may shock you, there are hardly any global authorities. Except for the sanctions and war China, for example, could decide to poison all oceans.
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JumpCrisscross 1070 days ago
> is no LEO authority over the entire world

The closest thing is the Outer Space Treaty, which assigns responsibility to governments [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty

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wmf 1070 days ago
They're the authority for anything that launches from the US and that transmits on RF. If Starlink interferes with US science the FCC definitely takes that into consideration.
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aspyct 1070 days ago
Then let that stay over the US. I'm sick of seeing my sky polluted with moving dots.

"But it's not much" you'll say. Yeah, wait another 10-20 years, with all the additional shit launched into space.

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