SpaceX asks FCC for permission to launch 4,425 satellites

[Murdoch]

Yeah, I'm gonna agree with what the others have stated about the OP, you forgot to take into consideration the contention ratios.

 

Which I'm guessing is how satellite services would still be managed.

 

On a different note, how does Elon Musk find the motivation and time to juggle all his different endeavours, I can barely focus on completing one task at a time. The guy is insane (in a good way).

[Coaxialgamer]

Get rid of the existing space debris first imo...

[DrMikeNZ]

5 hours ago, Litargirio said:

Why do these satellites only last 6 years?

The main reason is friction. Space isn't a perfect vacuum, low earth orbits have significantly more atmosphere to contend with.

In order to maintain orbits satellites need to burn rockets every now and then, with low earth orbits this is either a regular issue which may require refueling missions or the satellite is just left to burn up. It would be too dangerous, expensive and time consuming to maintain this many satellites orbits.

 

38 minutes ago, Coaxialgamer said:

Get rid of the existing space debris first imo...

Not an easy task, and doing so will likely contribute more. But they can launch more missions to clean up that rubbish too!

[mariushm]

1 hour ago, Coaxialgamer said:

Get rid of the existing space debris first imo...

Lots of people don't seem to understand that debris in space doesn't just hover in one place above your head, they go around the earth in their own orbits at high speeds.

There are projects and satellites designed to intercept and disassemble or affect the trajectory of existing debris, but the biggest problem for all of these is the fuel and the fact that these have to avoid actually hitting the debris and spreading it further in lots of other trajectories.

The simplest designs pretty much try to match the trajectory and speed of a debris piece but at slightly higher or lower altitude, and then slowly move to intercept or position right behind the debris.. then the ideea is to slightly accelerate and catch the debris in a net. Lots of fuel wasted, or long time if you rely on charging from sun using solar panels. From there, either wait until the added weight changes the trajectory and accelerates the fall and detach when the change is big enough, or rotate around debris to position on the side opposite earth and use engines to accelerate towards earth, release the debris , rotate 180 degrees and use engines again to stop falling from sky and go hunting for some other debris.

 

The Wikipedia page is actually quite good at explaining space debris: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_debris#Dealing_with_debris

[Coaxialgamer]

6 minutes ago, mariushm said:

Lots of people don't seem to understand that debris in space doesn't just hover in one place above your head, they go around the earth in their own orbits at high speeds.

There are projects and satellites designed to intercept and disassemble or affect the trajectory of existing debris, but the biggest problem for all of these is the fuel and the fact that these have to avoid actually hitting the debris and spreading it further in lots of other trajectories.

The simplest designs pretty much try to match the trajectory and speed of a debris piece but at slightly higher or lower altitude, and then slowly move to intercept or position right behind the debris.. then the ideea is to slightly accelerate and catch the debris in a net. Lots of fuel wasted, or long time if you rely on charging from sun using solar panels. From there, either wait until the added weight changes the trajectory and accelerates the fall and detach when the change is big enough, or rotate around debris to position on the side opposite earth and use engines to accelerate towards earth, release the debris , rotate 180 degrees and use engines again to stop falling from sky and go hunting for some other debris.

 

The Wikipedia page is actually quite good at explaining space debris: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_debris#Dealing_with_debris

i know about this, and my post was only half serious . But debris will become a very serious problem if left unchecked .

[RocketFarmer]

With the probable end of heavy subsidies to SpaceX because Musk was basically getting a kickback for his backing of Obama, and recent issues with their launch vehicle, I would not be surprised if this was a marketing decision to regain confidence in a competitive group of would-be customers. 

 

Reminds me of the Iridium program that didn't pan out. 

[SansVarnic]

Interesting ... I would like to see the follow up on this down the road and see how they are able to logistically able to pull it off.