Apple and Amazon Ink Satellite Deal Amid Globalstar Takeover

[BigMcGuire]

I don't understand the objections to Starlink. As far as I am aware the older generations of their satellites had the reflectivity problem - now the newer ones have a different design so they aren't ruining the night sky, they also are programmed to de-orbit at the end of their lifecycle so they don't contribute to space junk.

Doing my best not to get political. But most people I talk to who object to X, Starlink, Tesla, etc... do so because they don't like the CEO and then for that reason primarily - they dislike the companies. Obviously my $.02.

While I may not agree with everything the CEO is doing, I don't toss the baby out with the bathwater when looking at these companies as a whole. Tesla, Starlink do a lot of good.

I am disappointed that the solution is to throw more objects in space rather than using what we already have there. Back when I was younger and companies were installing cellphone towers all over Los Angeles - just blew my mind - why not combine all that $ into a really strong cellular network and have different companies own it together? Instead you have (now) 3 cellphone towers and a lot of dead areas regardless of cellular plan.

But there's a reason why I'm not running everything and I do not claim to be the sharpest tool in the shed (quite the opposite).

 

[deconstruct60]

I don't understand the objections to Starlink. As far as I am aware the older generations of their satellites had the reflectivity problem - now the newer ones have a different design so they aren't ruining the night sky,

These 'direct to device' even newer Satellites are even bigger. So 'cloaking' gets harder. And the reductions are primarily aimed at reducing the visibility to human vision thresholds. Not sensitive sensor thresholds.

And there are other ways of polluting the spectrum than just the mainstream visible light.

" ... Satellites associated with the Starshield satellite network appear to be transmitting to the Earth's surface on frequencies normally used for doing the exact opposite: sending commands from Earth to satellites in space. ..."
https://www.npr.org/2025/10/17/nx-s1-5575254/spacex-starshield-starlink-signal

But you know break things ( like other people's stuff) and move fast is 'cool'.

they also are programmed to de-orbit at the end of their lifecycle so they don't contribute to space junk.

Not technically true.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy...into-tens-of-objects-spacex-confirms-anomaly/

If put up 100 satellites and only have a 1% failure rate then is just one debris field.
If put up 1,000 satellites and still only have a 1$ failure rate then that is 10 debris fields.
If put up 10,000 statellites and still ony have a 1% failure rate then that is 100 debris fields.

Their failure rate may be smaller than 1% but if keep goosing the other number in the multiplication higher the problem doesn't go away. The higher the numbers the more space junk you are going to get. SpaceX is just hand waving around the real core issue, just like Tesla hand waves around "Autopilot" accidents (and deaths).

If it becomes largely a marketing pissing contest of "I've got 3,000 . .. well I've got 4,000 ... well I've got 5,000" the debris problem will very likely just get worse. It in compentition purely to make more money throwing some other folks under the bus usually follows if do not have strict regulation.

 

[ELman]

Musk, like with Tesla, is losing interest in Starlink, Grok is his current interest. If Starlink follows the Tesla trajectory its technology with stagnate.

I would say with Space X going public soon this is Musk interest.

 

[@Brett]

Hopefully some real innovation comes out of this.

Nope. Might just puts ads in it. Amazon love to nickel and dime.

 

[@Brett]

Satellites are visible with the naked eye when they reflect sunlight. They also appear on astral photography. Although the extent to which you notice them has to do with whether they are geosynchronous (move with the earth, appear to be still when viewed from the surface) or on their own orbital path (move across the sky, like a plane). Look up for an extended period of time somewhere away from city lights in the middle of the night. You'll see what looks like dim stars moving quickly across the sky. Satellites.

The satellites that SpaceX's Starlink and Amazon's Leo put in orbit are smaller than traditional satellites, but are still especially visible since A. there are so many (thousands for Starlink, hundreds so far for Leo, with a similar goal of thousands) and B. They're closer to earth (hence "low earth orbit" = LEO). You start to be able to see "swarms" of them.

And that is the thing. American companies crowding the night sky for the planet. Sure they get American approval. What day does th rest of the planet get?

 

[jamezr]

StarLink satellites seem to have a shorter lifespan than others. The strategy seems to be saturate the space with them so that if a few fail it doesn't matter. Not sure what StarLink is doing about controlled de-orbiting of obsolete satellites and reducing the optical flaring of their satellites. Perhaps you do?

No expert...But I did search for it

SpaceX deorbiting 100 older Starlink satellites to 'keep space safe and sustainable'

There are still well over 5,000 operational Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit.

www.space.com

But you are the person complaining about satellites while using satellites devices....Just wanted to point out the irony....

 

[bluesteel]

So many Elon Musk fanboys here, lol. Can’t stand that POS. Personally, I’m ecstatic Apple passed on Starlink.

 

[VulchR]

This is what I was objecting to: an astronomer tried to take an image of a comet and captured the optical flaring of no fewer than 35 StarLink satellites:

Source: Dan Bush, as seen on https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=17&month=04&year=2026; link to photo.

 

[sirfelgar]

To snub Starlink just because you don't love Elon Musk is a terrible strategic decision. Globalstar/Leo has a fraction of the bandwidth and coverage Starling has. I was truly hoping Apple/Cook would choose the better option but they've chosen Bezos and his worse tech for no real gain.

 

[BigMcGuire]

To snub Starlink just because you don't love Elon Musk is a terrible strategic decision. Globalstar/Leo has a fraction of the bandwidth and coverage Starling has. I was truly hoping Apple/Cook would choose the better option but they've chosen Bezos and his worse tech for no real gain.

That and we're going to now have how many companies throwing stuff up in the sky beaming signals down at us? All because someone doesn't like one man? To each their own... Competition is a good thing but not when it comes to throwing a ton of junk in our skies when it's unnecessary (we can just use what's there already).

I was reading that Bezos is going to have to use SpaceX rockets anyway (as he has already)... So those that think this is avoiding "he who shall not be named" are ....

 

[drlunanerd]

Blue Origin rocket explosion could damage Nasa's Moon timetable

Explosion of Blue Origin rocket is a setback for the company and for Nasa's Moon plans.

www.bbc.co.uk

“Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded at about 21:00 local time during a routine test of its engines.

The 98m (322ft) rocket had been due to launch 48 satellites for Amazon's Leo broadband network, as early as 4 June.

The explosion is obviously a big setback for the Leo network, which is struggling to be the main competitor for Elon Musk's SpaceX and its Starlink service. But the ramifications will go much further.”

 

[BigMcGuire]

Blue Origin rocket explosion could damage Nasa's Moon timetable

Explosion of Blue Origin rocket is a setback for the company and for Nasa's Moon plans.

www.bbc.co.uk

“Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket exploded at about 21:00 local time during a routine test of its engines.

The 98m (322ft) rocket had been due to launch 48 satellites for Amazon's Leo broadband network, as early as 4 June.

The explosion is obviously a big setback for the Leo network, which is struggling to be the main competitor for Elon Musk's SpaceX and its Starlink service. But the ramifications will go much further.”

The videos of that explosion are ... crazy. Can't imagine how much money went poof when that happened :/.

 

[jlc1978]

The videos of that explosion are ... crazy. Can't imagine how much money went poof when that happened :/.

That's what happens when you buy your parts on Amazon and the seller drop ships them from Temu...