this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2024
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You don't understand Kessler Syndrome. Starlink satellites are in an orbit that requires maintenance or it decays rapidly. These orbits are used on purpose as they are "self-cleaning".
Kessler Syndrome doesn't even mean that we can't fly through an orbit, only not occupy it for fear of collision. Space is incredibly, ridiculously large, and the chance of a departing rocket being struck by debris is miniscule.
In any case, a catastrophic multi-sat collision would only result in a meteor shower. These things are designed to re-enter in 5 years even in normal service.
I live in rural Canada and Starlink is the only reason I'm able to post this. It's been a tremendous asset to our lives, and as an aerospace enthusiast I'm all on board as well. As an astronomy enthusiast I'm less impressed but forsee a push into more, larger space telescopes.
You shouldnt use starlink because you can't trust the company. Thats unfortunate you can't get other service.
Previous collisions have resulted in debris that intersected with higher orbits. While those debris themselves will decay, if they collide with something in a higher orbit, a significant portion of the resulting debris will be there for a very long time.
Look at the apogees resulting from a major collision in 2009 in fig 3 on page 2
I've never seen an intelligent comment talking about Kessler syndrome, it's something idiots seem to latch on to and prattle on about in the comments, until someone who has at least watched a YouTube video about it corrects them.
Do you know why they don't use medium earth orbit? Presumably the satellites would need more power, weigh more for more shielding and launch costs would be slightly higher. But they would also cover more area so you'd need fewer. The only real downside should be slightly more latency.