Starlink - pre-order available in NZ

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928 posts

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Prodigi

#2654322 10-Feb-2021 22:59

chrisjunkie:

Whats the deal with moving this around inside NZ? I.e does the service address have to remain the same?

Beta testers have tried moving theirs and it gets disabled pretty fast

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pom532

149 posts

Master Geek

#2654432 11-Feb-2021 09:35

danielfaulknor:

chrisjunkie:

Whats the deal with moving this around inside NZ? I.e does the service address have to remain the same?

Beta testers have tried moving theirs and it gets disabled pretty fast

Hmm, I would have thought it would be perfect for campervans etc. Maybe one of the rental companies will do a deal to get them on their campervans and supply internet as part of the campervan rental.

Oblivian

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#2654481 11-Feb-2021 10:36

As part of the teardown I believe they found a local GNSS sensor. At activation it quite likely takes your location, hits the internet. Works out the dish position, downloads direction data and start point. Then adjusts itself and knows where it's expected to live from that point forth.

Be pretty easy to disable with that respect.

dt

1152 posts

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#2654542 11-Feb-2021 11:51

The product is still in its early stages so there's every possibility that it could be mobile once it's in full production over the next 5-10 years.

My friends ordered one for his father and hes more excited than his dad is because he just wants to have a play with it, hah

afe66

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#2654596 11-Feb-2021 12:51

Chrisclarke:

There are I understand two operational ground stations in NZ - south of Invercargill and outside Warkworth. I understand very limited private beta testing is happening in NZ already. The expected service commencement in the second half of 2021 reflects the need for the deployment of more satellites to increase the coverage and remove gaps (Starlink have just over 1000 in orbit, permission for 12,000 and would like to increase this to 42,000).

A week or so ago they launched 10 into polar orbit (they only have permission for 10 in the polar orbit, they are visible on the website below). They have laser links so they can transmit and receive data between satellites - this will eventually reduce the number of ground stations required however Starlink have indicated they won't deploy on their 'regular' satellites until 2022.

SpaceX seem to be aiming for two launches a month this year - releasing 60 satellites each time. Note they take between 1 and 3 months to reach their destination post launch.

This website is updated weekly and the circles give a reasonable indication of current coverage. (Bear in mind until laser links are fully operations the 'circle' needs to cover your dish and a ground station).

https://satellitemap.space/

Other useful links:

https://www.starlink.com/

https://www.spacex.com/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Starlink/

@chrisclarke

Thanks for the map link. That if the most impressive thing I have clicked on for months. Brought a smile to my face..

Dingbatt

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#2654597 11-Feb-2021 12:54

I guess with up to 42000 satellites that’s going to adversely affect things like Dark Sky in Tekapo. And probably both optical and radio astronomy all over the world as well.

Perhaps Mr Musk could put his own version of Hubble up to compensate.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

PolicyGuy

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#2654652 11-Feb-2021 14:07

Dingbatt:

I guess with up to 42000 satellites that’s going to adversely affect things like Dark Sky in Tekapo. And probably both optical and radio astronomy all over the world as well.

Perhaps Mr Musk could put his own version of Hubble up to compensate.

Starlink is proposed to have "only" 12,000 satellites, not 42,000. They are currently licensed for about 4,000 IIRC
It's still a lot, though

SpaceX have done quite a bit of work to reduce the reflectivity of their satellites, to mitigate this problem.

They are also proposing to reduce the orbital height of all their satellites (to about 500km IIRC), so that they will be lit up for a smaller portion of each night - I think for only an hour or two after sunset and before dawn. Other "Medium Earth Orbit" constellations, proposed for about 1,000 km, will be a bigger issue.

I expect that in the 2030s, Elon Musk will be very happy to supplement the Olympus Mons observatories with one on the Other Side of the Moon
;)

Oblivian

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#2654656 11-Feb-2021 14:16

Dingbatt:

I guess with up to 42000 satellites that’s going to adversely affect things like Dark Sky in Tekapo. And probably both optical and radio astronomy all over the world as well.

Perhaps Mr Musk could put his own version of Hubble up to compensate.

Already is.. (been a contention from approval). The last 5 batches have had 'mods' to change their reflectiveness (new solar panels that are dark) after complaints. But seems it only helps once they are the full 550kms up from being as obvious with the naked eye. Or narrowing the range of reflection at ground level down.

However, this is still an easy result with even a Huawei P30 or similar aged good camera.

(sorry for momentary hijack)

The latest batch, I caught by mistake 3hrs after launch. So you can see the group of 60. + deployment 2nd stage. A lot longer than they appeared to the eye being a longer exposure

And an older batch, Cruising past an accidently found Carinae Nebula

Chrisclarke

195 posts

Master Geek

#2654845 11-Feb-2021 19:59

PolicyGuy:

Dingbatt:

I guess with up to 42000 satellites that’s going to adversely affect things like Dark Sky in Tekapo. And probably both optical and radio astronomy all over the world as well.

Perhaps Mr Musk could put his own version of Hubble up to compensate.

Starlink is proposed to have "only" 12,000 satellites, not 42,000. They are currently licensed for about 4,000 IIRC
It's still a lot, though

SpaceX have done quite a bit of work to reduce the reflectivity of their satellites, to mitigate this problem.

They are also proposing to reduce the orbital height of all their satellites (to about 500km IIRC), so that they will be lit up for a smaller portion of each night - I think for only an hour or two after sunset and before dawn. Other "Medium Earth Orbit" constellations, proposed for about 1,000 km, will be a bigger issue.

I expect that in the 2030s, Elon Musk will be very happy to supplement the Olympus Mons observatories with one on the Other Side of the Moon
;)

SpaceX could one day operate 42,000 Starlink satellites if it builds and launches 30,000 in addition to the 12,000 for which it already has FCC approval. Credit: SpaceX

Link to full article: https://spacenews.com/spacex-submits-paperwork-for-30000-more-starlink-satellites/

tim0001

261 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2655575 13-Feb-2021 11:10

Starlink could be great news for rural NZ. (Chorus may also be relieved to lose of some of their most difficult customers...)

We couldn’t sign up fast enough.

I expect that a large proportion of my local community will sign up to Starlink before the RBI2 cellsite arrives in a year or two.

CYaBro

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#2655576 13-Feb-2021 11:20

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

Chrisclarke

195 posts

Master Geek

#2655923 14-Feb-2021 09:43

I had a quick look at the Radio Spectrum licenses again this morning and it seems more ground stations have been permitted (there were initially two).

They now have permission for: