Russia warns United States: use of SpaceX for spying makes its satellites a target - eviltoast
  • Ilovethebomb@lemmy.nz
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    6 months ago

    Starlink launches forty-ish Starlink sats every other week, Russia could deplete it’s entire arsenal of missiles and, if they’re lucky, cause a hole in their coverage.

      • Ilovethebomb@lemmy.nz
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        6 months ago

        As someone who spends a lot of time in the outdoors, I have to disagree with you. I’m very excited about how this will simplify logistics, and make getting weather etc much easier.

        • warm@kbin.earth
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          6 months ago

          The skies are already polluted with Starlink satellites and there’s even more coming. I agree that is does solve some situations, but it’s being done for profit, not for undeveloped areas. Sticking more shit in our skies for money is really sad, I am surprised there’s not more international regulations for this kind of satellite spam.

          • Ilovethebomb@lemmy.nz
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            6 months ago

            but it’s being done for profit, not for undeveloped areas.

            This is such a Lemmy comment, there’s nothing evil about providing a service for a price.

            • warm@kbin.earth
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              6 months ago

              Not on its own. Polluting the skies for profit is the problem. Why the cherry picking though?

            • ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org
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              6 months ago

              Providing a service for a price is not the problematic part.
              The problem with serial killers isn’t that they want money in exchange, either.

      • Player2@lemm.ee
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        6 months ago

        Enjoy spreading misinformation online? There are valid criticisms against LEO constellations but Kessler syndrome is not one of them

        • off_brand_@beehaw.org
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          6 months ago

          ??

          Did you read the comment? It’s not about LEO satellites. It’s about a military arsenal destroying a fleet of LEO satellites. The satellites won’t do a Kessler, but a fleets worth of shrapnel would be a problem.

      • Saik0@lemmy.saik0.com
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        6 months ago

        Which is exactly why Russia only needs a handful of rockets at most. You only need to make debris. The rest will sort itself out.

          • Saik0@lemmy.saik0.com
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            6 months ago

            It’s another form of MAD.

            Russia has nothing in that LEO orbit (that I’m aware of… I could be horrendously wrong). I don’t think there’s anything “mutually assured” here.

    • matcha_addict@lemy.lol
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      6 months ago

      I’m pretty sure that starlink satellites are orders of magnitudes more expensive to manufacture and deploy than the weapons that can target them.

      • JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works
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        6 months ago

        Really? You can put up 50 starlinks at a time for tens of millions of dollars, whereas asats need a more expensive an maneuverable kill vehicle and a launch for each one with lots more complicated targeting and maneuvering. It’s pretty hard to track and follow something down moving so fast through space and hit it. Plus Russia just doesn’t have the launch capacity to put up that much mass to orbit.

      • Ilovethebomb@lemmy.nz
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        6 months ago

        How do you know that? You’re launching an entire rocket to kill one satellite, that can’t be cheap.

        • ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org
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          6 months ago

          Yes, it is probably expensive, but a satellite is probably even more expensive, and not just by a little.

          • B0rax@feddit.de
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            6 months ago

            I don’t think it is… one of the satellites cost USD 250k in 2019. it is likely cheaper now.

            There have been Anti Satellite Weapon tests (for example from China) to see if it is feasible. The cost for such an attack would be much much higher than 250k (we are talking multiple millions)

      • UrPartnerInCrime@sh.itjust.works
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        6 months ago

        Maybe, but one of the best traits about Musk is he’s willing to throw money at this regardless of profit. So he’s gunna keep throwing up more of these satellites, while Russia’s rocket supply is only going to get harder to resupply for the foreseeable future.

  • catloaf@lemm.ee
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    6 months ago

    Spy satellites have always been valid targets. I don’t think they’re any more likely to shoot these ones down than any of the others.

    • MrVilliam@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      For real. This seems like something that threatens musk and space x more than anybody else. The CIA effectively has unlimited money to replace whatever Russia takes down, but musk needing to pay to replace satellites to maintain starlink will hurt his bottom line. I don’t think tin foil hat wearers would be all that unreasonable to make the assumption that this is a veiled threat to keep musk in line. I frequently hear the argument that “billionaires can’t be bought” but I believe the exact opposite. They care more about money than morals and ethics, and can therefore be coerced by it either through hurting their bottom line or rewarding them with more of it. A dragon’s hoard can never be too big for the dragon to accept more, and nothing hurts the drain more than reducing its hoard.

  • Chefdano3@lemm.ee
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    6 months ago

    Can’t wait to hear about space X satellites falling out of a window.

  • JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works
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    6 months ago

    There are more sats than asat missiles. The math doesn’t work out. Unless they use nukes or shotgun blasts or something to make the entirety of leo unusable.

    • Lath@kbin.earth
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      6 months ago

      That CIA - SpaceX combo to make spy satellites mentioned some days back.

      • tiredturtle@lemmy.ml
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        6 months ago

        Huh, found that news on Google. So Musk is quite publicly doing something in secret, with the CIA and Russia. Definitely fishy

  • nexusband@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    On one hand, I really, really want those idiots in the Kremel to cause a Kessler Syndrome…(In theory it could also prevent ballistic missiles)

    On the other hand, that would be quite bad for the rest of us.

      • knightly the Sneptaur@pawb.social
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        6 months ago

        I’d be worried about debris flung into steeply elliptical orbits, though. It wouldn’t take much to do some real damage to sats in higher orbits and once the cascade starts there’s not much we can do but wait decades for the worst of it to fall into the atmosphere.

        • FaceDeer@fedia.io
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          6 months ago

          Those steeply elliptical orbits would probably deorbit even quicker since a random impulse that boosts the apogee is likely to lower the perigee even more.

    • FaceDeer@fedia.io
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      6 months ago

      Kessler syndrome is only a threat to satellites that are orbiting within the debris, it’s not really a danger if you’re only passing through (as a ballistic missile would).