2026-10-14 21:05 UTC
Replies (7)
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@SoftwareTheron@mas.to 2026-10-14 21:10
@Ruth_Mottram@fediscience.org I too would like to know. I am almost entirely ignorant about this, in practical terms. My sense is that big projects take 3-5 years minimum, but that's not even a SWAG. I do know that launcher slot availability will be a question.
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@adamsteer@mapstodon.space 2026-10-14 21:17
@Ruth_Mottram@fediscience.org in Antarctica we used to use inmarsat for some things. It exists already, likely alongside similar companies... perhaps they could... [alongside much stronger political action which would remove the need...]
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@davep@infosec.exchange 2026-10-14 21:19
@Ruth_Mottram@fediscience.org This? https://navisp.esa.int/actors-involved/eutelsat-oneweb https://www.reuters.com/business/eutelsat-shares-jump-ukraine-flags-curbs-starlink-military-grade-service-2026-10-14/
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@sundogplanets@mastodon.social 2026-10-14 21:53
@Ruth_Mottram@fediscience.org I know OneWeb is the only megaconstellation that is currently mostly meeting the IAU brightness recommendations. But they're also at a higher orbital altitude where Kessler Syndrome is more likely... Thank goodness they're not (yet) asking for 100,000+ satellites like OTHER OPERATORS
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@viq@social.hackerspace.pl 2026-10-14 22:12
@Ruth_Mottram@fediscience.org supposedly some form of that already exists, but there doesn't seem even a way to start talking with them about it if you're not an organization/company, and when someone I know tried (possibly as a company? I'm not certain), they didn't receive a response. I believe altitude about 2x higher was mentioned, though I think main part was for increased lifespan of the satellites.
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@cptbutton@dice.camp 2026-10-15 04:23
@Ruth_Mottram@fediscience.org Which satellite network was it that went bankrupt and was going to start deorbiting all their satellites, but then the US DoD bought it up? Or was going to, anyway.
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@lgrochal@mastodon.com.pl 2026-10-16 22:24
@Ruth_Mottram@fediscience.org The answer, as I read it, is „not yet, not soon”. We use Eutelsat, and we use Starlink for business, so OneWeb looked like a good alternative for the latter, but when we asked a couple of years ago, they only had like a few dozen satellites in orbit, so the constellation was nowhere near functional. From what I’ve read between the lines, (so - my conjecture here) Eutelsat acquired the business in a pretty dire financial condition, which additionally slowed things down. This might have accelerated now, sure, but still there’s no talking about commercial availability, just government and emergency services - I guess that says a lot about the bandwidth currently available. Also, the terminals would not be interchangeable with Starlink.