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Comment by whiteboardr | Hacker News Reader

It’s an appalling situation IMHO - watching the lack of regulations for “space litter” and ignorance of one man combined ruining earths orbit for generations to come is a disgrace.

I get the point of providing global connectivity and it might be useful, the implications don’t make up for it though.

Scientific research should be the only reason anyone should be allowed to put human made objects into space.

Musk shooting a damn car into space just for the fun of it should have been a warning for everyone - seeing the majority treating it as a “cool” thing to do just shows how much mire education about space should be done.

Oh well.

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> Scientific research should be the only reason anyone should be allowed to put human made objects into space

You don't think communications and navigation satellites should exist? What about weather sats?

Clearly you don't understand Elon's Starlink. If they did nothing from today literally every satellite will re-enter and burn up of it's own accord within 5 years - not generations. They have to actively boost it keep it in orbit and counter the drag for the atmosphere. ( Which is quite different from most other satellites out there)

I know.

What I’m saying is that this is here to stay and once fuel for keeping them in orbit is depleted they’ll be replaced - hence that whole mesh won’t go away.

I agree with you in terms of how it feels. I haven't yet made up my mind about the balance of benefits and drawbacks. When I get cross about them I try to remember that I've never really minded airplanes crossing my path when stargazing and they're a lot brighter and more distracting. And I think I'd like to keep my righteous anger powder dry for when some gigantic asshole tries to show adverts in the night sky.

It requires active investment to maintain the contsellation, so at least the null case is that they'll all burn up within a few years if SpaceX fails. (And that's something that I think even many fervent Elon-haters don't particularly want to see: given the choice between betting the next 50 years of access to space on Starliner or Falcon and Starship, I know which I'd pick.)

"Potential Ozone Depletion From Satellite Demise During Atmospheric Reentry in the Era of Mega-Constellations"

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024GL10...

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