Why Amazon Is Buying Starlink Rival Globalstar in $11B Deal

wsj.com

20 points·JumpCrisscross··9 comments

Interesting, I was expecting Apple to eventually buy them.

Still, makes sense to me: The aging Globalstar satellite constellation itself is probably not very interesting to Amazon, but their global L-band and S-band spectrum is, as are their existing licenses to operate a mobile satellite service in most countries.

Is satellite internet going to become a crowded space that no other company can ever hope to enter due to skies becoming literally overcrowded with sattelites? Seems like a somewhat unfair winner takes all scenario.

It is very simple compete - your satellites must be tougher than theirs.

Just like fiber, just like power lines, just like... rail!?

The ghost of Cornelius Vanderbilt is rubbing his hands in glee.

If you think about the "surface" of space being SO much larger than the surface of the earth, there's comparatively very little floating in orbit right now, even including Starlink.

If you’re considering beam widths on top of physical space alone it gets a bit trickier (at least for radio as opposed to light/lasers), but yes, there is a lot of space in LEO.

I figure as technology progresses, we'll get more/tighter beams for more efficiency, especially if something like 5G massive MIMO could ever work on a satellite.

> crowded space

it is literally space...

What infuriates me is that all these Statunitians company can do what they want, flood the skys with this mess, if another country or even worse, if China does the same, boy oh boy, there will be hell to pay.

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