Major European mobile carriers are teaming up for a ‘direct’ satellite program without Starlink
https://www.theverge.com/policy/1013680/european-mobile-carriers-mobile-satellite-starlinkOpen linkView original on lemmy.worldSyndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.
View original on lemmy.worldhttps://www.theverge.com/policy/1013680/european-mobile-carriers-mobile-satellite-starlinkOpen linkView original on lemmy.world
13 replies
The bit you’re interested in is in the first paragraph, so save yourself opening the link:
“four telecom companies say they would handle the ground infrastructure while a separate, unannounced satellite partner provides the satellite constellation”
Unannounced, being the operative word here. The whole thing hinges on the satellites. No news here really.
How about we get fiber in urbanized regions first? Actually scratch the urbanized part. Fiber would be cheaper, more reliable and have a smaller carbon footprint than satellite anywhere in Europe. Still no? What a shame.
These is fiber to the home in 79% of all homes in the EU. In rural areas it's less (65%) which means that it is higher in urban areas.
Not perfect, but pretty good and getting better over time.
https://www.conectronica.com/en/optical-fiber/ftth-fftx-fiber-optic/ftth-in-europe-2026-fiber-optic-growth-adoption-and-forecasts-until-2031
Yay, more constellations. Exactly what we needed. Yayyyyy
Sadly we need it. Satellite communication has shown its central importance in modern warfare and Russia is a credible threat for many EU member states, while the US cannot be trusted with such matters as should be obvious by now. So it is actually quite urgent to undo this lack in capabilities. At least this is a European project, so many countries cooperate here.
OP's right, even with one constellation pollution is high, but since we aren't able to collaborate and every country has to compete, there will be N of those. Look at night sky while you can, it won't be for long at this pace.
Besides sky being totally polluted so one can't even see stars and other natural objects any more, you do realize that more objects in space means more serious problems because of crowded space and debris flying around? And also debris falling on your head. But yes, we really need more satellites for whatever reason....
These communication satellites are in relatively low orbit. They might be a temprorary problem but are cleared out quite fast when not actively maintained due to atmosphere drag and gravity. Problematic are the higher orbits.
You either think you're funny (which you're not, btw), or you're pretty dumb.
You find it primitive to want to be able to study the universe from earth? Be it amateurs with their garden telescope or large professional installations. Even the current state already makes it hard to impossible to get decent images for science, that would only get worse.
And I for one don't see 'better mobile coverage' as worthy enough to sacrifice earth bound astronomy for it
You might be german, but you're also kind of a dick :) "primitivism" has nothing to do with being against this. If you can't understand it, then I'm not going to waste my time explaining it to you. You can research the issues of launching shit into space willy nilly yourself.