[FireBeyond]

A government organization (I know, cringe) would be better, IMO. It's one thing for DirecTV to have 10 satellites providing TV and internet, and another to have a company with what will soon be exceeding 30 thousand. Why not make it a shared resource, like so many countries do with infrastructure projects?

[minhazm]

The federal government is incapable of efficiently allocating resources at scale, it's just the reality. Take a look at the defense industry. I have a friend who worked for a 3 letter agency, left and joined a private contractor and was assigned to the same team and project again but at 2x the pay. In practice the actual cost to the government is likely 3x factoring in the profits the contractor makes. Government pay scales also make it so that it makes no sense to work for the government if you're in a high demand / high pay field. That means the government tends to get the bottom of the barrel talent & then they end up massively overpaying for "butts-in-seats" contractors who do the same exact job at a way higher cost.

That's why we have things like the FCC, FAA and DoD who oversee things like telecommunications and rocket launches hopefully without putting too much of a damper on innovation and progress while also protecting lives.

[FireBeyond]

> The federal government is incapable of efficiently allocating resources at scale, it's just the reality.

The US is the Land of Middlemen. Government are capable of doing so (see 'medical care in much of the rest of the world'). That doesn't specifically change that it is generally better for the "common good" that large infrastructure projects are often better in the hands of an entity that is not corporate profit-seeking at all costs.

> That's why we have things like the FCC, FAA and DoD who oversee things like telecommunications and rocket launches

SpaceX is using Tonga as a 'flag of convenience' for these launches, likely because Tonga has a far more lax regulatory oversight system - it's certainly not because of SpaceX's heavy connection to the Pacific island nation.

[robertlagrant]

> it's certainly not because of SpaceX's heavy connection to the Pacific island nation

They do have some connection: last year Starlink were there helping restore internet access after the volcano[0].

[0] https://uk.pcmag.com/networking/138575/spacexs-starlink-work...

[FireBeyond]

> last year Starlink were there helping restore internet access after the volcano

No, they weren't. Musk, et al, always have no shortage of people willing to pat them on the back for promises of future potentiality.

"SpaceX plans to establish a gateway ground station on Fiji".

"Last month, CEO Elon Musk mentioned the possibility of supplying Tonga residents with Starlink, if needed. Once a ground station is established in the South Pacific region"

"There’s no word on how long it’ll take for the company to get the ground station up and running. But the other obstacle is delivering Starlink dishes to residents in Tonga."

"In the meantime, the country still has access to other satellite internet providers"

That's a little "reaching" for 'being on the ground helping restore internet access'.

Even if that WAS the case, trying to connect that as "so now it makes perfect sense for us to apply for orbit slots from Tonga for eight times the volume of current Starling satellites as we currently have in orbit".

[inemesitaffia]

Starlink got there on time, is in use today and powers other islands next to Tonga that didn't have their fiber reconnected.

I know this because I was part of an org that sent equipment to Fiji schools

[bryanlarsen]

The DirectTV satellites are in GEO, a particularly crowded orbit which does not naturally deorbit.

10 DirectTV satellites pose a higher risk of causing Kessler than 30,000 satellites at a 300 mile orbit.

[mcpackieh]

The government had more than 60 years to do this themselves, and haven't. They had a decades head start and squandered it. If the government were so competent then we wouldn't be having this conversation.

If you think there is something wrong with the American government specifically, which doesn't effect enlightened progressive European governments, then I direct your attention to France and Arianespace's own failure to innovate.