For those following news about SpaceX's upcoming offering of global low latency satellite internet, I found a site that is tracking their build-up of the constellation. Very interesting to give context of how far along they are. I'm expecting this will be disruptive tech next year with internet everywhere at ~20ms latency. People want to know how commercial space development is going to pay for persistent colonization on the Moon and Mars, well this is how it starts.
 
https://satellitemap.space/

Why are there so many already de-orbiting and burning up?

ty_ger07
Why are there so many already de-orbiting and burning up?

They put them up 60 at a time. My guess is they'll deorbit the first 2 or 3 batches as they were all pre-production test articles. I believe they're on launch 13? They're reusing old Falcon 9 boosters, some of which have been landed and used 5+ times already as the method to get the launches done. At the current pace, they're doing a launch every other week or so.

Thanks for the post-
the Spacex Beta program was too far north for me :-(
 
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last i read the poor scientists in Antarctica all had to go home and leave  the equipment on auto,
 
 
 

interesting project, not going to compete with big cable ISPs though it is good news for those that have no options

ty_ger07
Why are there so many already de-orbiting and burning up?

 
Test models, some were pre-production hardware sent up as proof-of-concept and for testing. Last I'd read, SpaceX has over 700 sats in orbit, not counting 60 it has de-orbited. Looking like March for the public beta at the current time. 
 

Cool GTX
interesting project, not going to compete with big cable ISPs though it is good news for those that have no options

It will compete with DSL though, and only cities get cable. Most of the US is DSL at best. I am willing to bet Starlink will also compete with telecoms, so that will be interesting to see. Imagine paying for home internet but being able to get cell reception literally anywhere without having to pay extra. 

For those interested, the next launch is in about an hour:
 

seth89

Cool GTX
interesting project, not going to compete with big cable ISPs though it is good news for those that have no options

It will when it's all done. Elon says 1 gig down and a ping from anywhere in the world of 40ms. 
Even if 300mbps lots of people in the US will dump Comcast, Altice, ect for this.
IMO

Yup. I'm paying $69.99 a month for 100mbps. I despise Spectrum and if there were literally any alternative in my area I'd be using it.

Bruno747
I can't wait for the day a satellite malfunctions and we have so much crap in orbit that one smacking another causes a massive chain reaction that takes out like 40% of satellites.

It's gonna be satisfying to watch then ensuing chaos.

Hope you enjoy living without a cellphone, or paying 5x as much for it then. Or don't use satellite TV, SiriusXM Radio, or GPS. Kids these days wouldn't know the first thing about navigating via paper maps. 

castrator86

seth89

Cool GTX
interesting project, not going to compete with big cable ISPs though it is good news for those that have no options

It will when it's all done. Elon says 1 gig down and a ping from anywhere in the world of 40ms. 
Even if 300mbps lots of people in the US will dump Comcast, Altice, ect for this.
IMO

Yup. I'm paying $69.99 a month for 100mbps. I despise Spectrum and if there were literally any alternative in my area I'd be using it.

You and me both brother! Look up turd in a dictionary and you’ll see a Spectrum ad. 


Sorry for the mini rant Brad!

Cool stuff but I feel there's too much 'space junk' out there for us astronomers.  You won't be able to get a clear sky without a object passing by.  I actually got spooked the first time I used my telescope last year.  I thought I was seeing bats but later realized they were satelites flying passed the moon.

Well, the latency can't be improved. That's the nature of physics. ... Unless they can figure out how to make a quantum entanglement communication system which never comes untangled. If anything, adding relays will increase latency, not decrease.

ty_ger07
Well, the latency can't be improved. That's the nature of physics. ... Unless they can figure out how to make a quantum entanglement communication system which never comes untangled. If anything, adding relays will increase latency, not decrease.

Probably so, but the bandwidth has been the largest problem. What's the point of sending an advanced rover to mars if the data it generates in a single day requires a week to transmit back? Currently the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acts as the main relay between Martian probes and earth, but it wasn't designed to be a high-bandwidth comsat for all the devices operating on Mars. It has a fixed size storage buffer and it's just one sat orbiting the planet. 
 

Cordorb
Item in low orbit have a short life if there is no way to add energy to get it higher. (ie ion jets)
I Want to see more about his sat to sat laser link 
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Even the Solar sail sat project using sun light to get part of the orbit higher has a net loss.
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Speaking of  his projects - where is his Tesla he sent towards Mars ?

 
Each Starlink sat has an ion thruster, that's why it takes them a few months to climb to their final orbits. As for the Tesla, here you go: https://twitter.com/plane...us/1313942755572359175

As an astronomer, I am a bit concerned about all the satellites. Luckily I am not into astrophotography (you thought computer components were expensive...whew!) but I still see a lot of satellite activity every time I use my scope. 

Brad_Hawthorne

mobhill
As an astronomer, I am a bit concerned about all the satellites. Luckily I am not into astrophotography (you thought computer components were expensive...whew!) but I still see a lot of satellite activity every time I use my scope. 

I'm actually into astrophotography. Frankly, I think it's also interesting to capture the Starlink trains too though with photography. Both things look pretty cool to photograph. Starlink is a short term issue. Give it 20-30 years and there'll be Moon based radio and optical telescopes that put anything terrestrial to shame.

YES!
Starlink will fund Mars and moon exploration/colonies. Sure a hobby may be lost but what data will gain by mounting observation equipment to the dark side of the moon and mars?
 
We need to get pass the observation phase and start exploring, we won't have the chance ever again.