Project Kuiper: Amazon’s answer to SpaceX’s Starlink passes ‘crucial’ test::Amazon’s Project Kuiper, which uses optical inter-satellite link (OISL) technology to connect more than 3,000 satellites in a mesh network that blankets Earth, just cleared a final hurdle needed to launch next year.
Call me a socialist, but the moment the tech was proven either the US or some UN based org should have eminent domained and brought Starlink.
That way there wouldn’t be multiple companies sending tens of thousands of satellites into space. And hypothetically there would be a greater expectation of equal access. Oh and access wouldn’t be at the whim of a pretty billionaire.
That would have had a functional constellation for about 4 years or so. Without constantly launching new satellites, the constellation would degrade to uselessness. Who’s going to buy the rockets and replacement satellites and keep launching replacements?
Who? If it’s not either profitable or has a distinct benefit, then it does not deserve to exist.