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Urabrask Revealed

Let them go.
Founder
The development and deployment of such an organization is a necessity if we want to explore and colonize space. But "space trash men" isn't as sexy as being an astronaut, so people either don't focus on it or they don't know about it because of the former.
 

LordSunhawk

Das BOOT (literally)
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There are plenty of viable proposals to deal with the space junk problem, the major issue is that whenever any are proposed they get shot down on the grounds that they could be used as anti-satellite weapons by virtue of their operational profile, and thus are illegal under various treaties. Generally, if the US or ESA proposes a method, the Russians and Chinese freak out, if the Russians or Chinese propose one, the ESA and US freak out.

Note that this is the same shoal the proposals for 'tender' satellites that could extend orbital life of existing satellites, or deorbit them, founder on 'OMG they might use them to attack our super important secret squirrel satellites! NOOOOOOOO'.
 

Laskar

Would you kindly?
Founder
There are plenty of viable proposals to deal with the space junk problem, the major issue is that whenever any are proposed they get shot down on the grounds that they could be used as anti-satellite weapons by virtue of their operational profile, and thus are illegal under various treaties. Generally, if the US or ESA proposes a method, the Russians and Chinese freak out, if the Russians or Chinese propose one, the ESA and US freak out.

Note that this is the same shoal the proposals for 'tender' satellites that could extend orbital life of existing satellites, or deorbit them, founder on 'OMG they might use them to attack our super important secret squirrel satellites! NOOOOOOOO'.
Well, the obvious solution is to design our secret squirrel spy satellites to shoot back in self defense, no?
 

Husky_Khan

The Dog Whistler... I mean Whisperer.
Founder
Sotnik
Will Amazon be launching the next satellite in orbit?

If this Change.org petition is read and the people heard, that may just well be the case.


Will Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos finally listen to the demands of his loyal customer base? We can only hope.
 

Husky_Khan

The Dog Whistler... I mean Whisperer.
Founder
Sotnik
An update on Elon Musk's Starlink Internet Satellite Network...


> Starlink could cost between 20 to 30 billion dollars of of investment long term with 5 to 10 billion invested before reaching full positive cash flow.
> They have launched and activated over 1500 satellites.
> Currently have close to 70,000 users and are tracking to have over a half million within 12 months.
> They apparently are developing two major partnerships with major country based telecommunications companies.
 

Husky_Khan

The Dog Whistler... I mean Whisperer.
Founder
Sotnik
Looks like Amazon's Jeff Bezos and VirginGalactic's Richard Branson are engaging in their own Space Race.

But unlike the Space Race of the 1960's which pitted two ideological adversaries in a peaceful pursuit of scientific progress and Human exploration which would ultimately benefit all of Humanity while also serving as a powerful symbol of which system of politics, economy and society could better harness Human creativity, expression and indsutry... this Space Race is an ego battle between two smug billionaire fucks.


Bezos was slated to travel into space on July 20th, so Richard Branson apparently selected a date of July 11th.

I haven't heard if either of them are planning a return date but hopefully in the rush to get into space first, they forgot about that part.
 

Husky_Khan

The Dog Whistler... I mean Whisperer.
Founder
Sotnik

Richard Branson went into space. The first Billionaire in Space which is... I guess... a milestone or something for inclusivity or diversity or whatever. Apparently though this is an important step in so-called passenger flight into space while almost all previous travelers into space were either on government spacecraft or government mandated spaceflight missions.
 

Undertone

Active member
I'm amused by the Bezos response of 'It wasn't actually space! I'll be the first! Really!'

This is all sophistry after SpaceX missions reached *orbit*, but... in the realm of the suborbital, it just depends on which altitude metric you prefer.

100 km is arbitrary but generally above the atmosphere's mesopause, even during daytime. The FAI, which keeps flight sports records, follows this metric.

80 km has been growing in acceptance, including from JSR, a leading rocket industry report, though strictly speaking it's also an arbitrary line, just much closer to the *average* altitude of the mesopause. During the day, the mesopause rises higher because solar energy interacts with the air. At night, the mesosphere cools off and the boundary moves lower.

A spacecraft like Virgin Galactic SS2, that can reach 80 km, will enter space if it's flown at night. But during daytime? Well, hope you brought along some thermometers and ionized gas sensors to back up your claims.
 

Urabrask Revealed

Let them go.
Founder
Come to think of it, what was the furthest a human being was away from Earth? The Moon, probably, because I don't recall any mentions of astronauts spending time beyond that orbit.

It's weird how confined to Earth's gravity well we are...
 

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