SpaceX created a swarm of about a thousand satellites that is circulating about 340 miles overhead, and building the constellation has put SpaceX in a "deep chasm" of expenses, according to CEO Elon Musk. The constellation has also raised concerns about potential in-space collisions and the impact on astronomers' ability to study the night sky. But for some early customers of the $99-per-month Starlink service, the satellites are already improving how rural communities access the internet.
  • VernetheJules [they/them]
    ·
    4 years ago

    for "fun" I like to imagine if these massive companies ever decided to just go rogue, and this is definitely a fun scenario:

    tired of all the people lambasting his image, Elon sends a letter to world leaders holding the planet's space exploration future for ransom:

    if they don't give him what he wants, a deadman's switch on every satellite will activate causing them to self-destruct or steer themselves into other pieces of debris and blanket the outer reaches of the planet in wreckage

    nerds on reddit proceed to cheer

    • worker_democracy [they/them]
      ·
      4 years ago

      I remember watching James Bond movies as a kid and thinking "Ya know, most of these lunatics wouldn't be able to nuke the planet or whatever if they weren't rich enough to buy a private army in the first place..."