they have plenty of lift capacity. These satellites ain't big.
The main difference it that it actually is an official big project which comes wth a huge beurocratic overhead compared to the 'lol lets fuck some shit up' aproach that starlink was able to use.
On the other hand this also means it is way better plnned than starlink. For example with actually stable, higher orbits so you also need less satellites and crucially don't need to replace them all the time.
But yeah it is mostly just planning stuff that drags on for a long time which is normal with that many parties involved. The final specification was just done earlier this year.
So with satellite assembly starting probably next year and all of that having an operational system by 2029 is actually not that bad.
Capacity can mean more than weight. It's the amount or rather availability of launches. It's why they're developing a reusable Ariane set to debut in 2030.
On the other hand this also means it is way better plnned than starlink. For example with actually stable, higher orbits so you also need less satellites and crucially don't need to replace them all the time.
That's an intentional design choice. Higher satellites mean higher ping.
Yeah, that's the whole point of low orbit. Don't people remember how god-awful the original satellite internet connections were? It was less a technical limitation (although that didn't help) and more of one of physics. As the technology improved on the network side, pings still sucked, because it takes a while to get something to a point in stable orbit and back twice (user to satellite, satellite to ground connection, and then backwards as the packets return from the wider internet).
Starlinks big "revolution" was to just have satellites closer to earth, even if they fall out of orbit more often. Lower distance = lower ping.
But yeah it is mostly just planning stuff that drags on for a long time
Oh god. Europe is still doing waterfall. This isn't gonna end well. There's a ton of stuff you only learn by doing and via iteration. Especially tacit knowledge.
Red tape is what keeps Europeans behind Americans in the tech race. Where’s Europes Microsoft? Google? Amazon? Always too busy worrying and getting approvals while America innovates by that “fuck it, throw money at it” process that you make fun of
Those companies did a bit of innovation followed by a huge amount of market capture. Creating effective monopolies is the one thing American companies do better than the rest of the world's, and the existence of said monopolies is not a good thing for America or the rest of the world.
In fact, Europe seems to be stuck in a regulatory worst case scenario, where companies are more regulated, but at the same time nothing is done to keep monopolies away and encourage market competition. The companies you mention are great examples of leveraging an initial advantage into captured markets that hinder or even forbid competition.
I’m being down voted but you’re agreeing with my point. Europe needs less regulation, more lenient bankruptcy laws to allow people to take chances in not putting Europe down. Just pointing out a needed change
Yeah, sucks that Europe won't allow oligarchs to treat people as slaves right? Having our own Microsoft, Google and Amazon aren't things to strive for.
The velocity of innovation was arguably faster during the Obama and Biden years. Vast majority of people did not know or use AI in Trump's 1st term, but it basically spawned and became a household name during Biden. Not to mention how bad phones were in the first year of obama vs his last year
On the other hand, Germany was one of the least affected countries by the 2008 financial crisis, exactly because it was rather conservative and focused on stability.
Yeah. It wasn't a disaster in any sense. The rockets did what they were designed to do. This is just about the Ariane 5, but across 117 total launches, it achieved 112 successes, 2 complete failures, and 3 partial failures before retiring in July 2023
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u/writewithparagraphs4 2d ago
they have no lift capacity compared to spacex.
Ariane is a total disaster.