# Is it really wise for Space-X to put 11,000 satellites into space for a new way to get internet
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-wise-for-space-x-to-put-11-000-satellites-into-space-for-a-new-way-to-get-internet/809156
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [February 19, 2018, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-wise-for-space-x-to-put-11-000-satellites-into-space-for-a-new-way-to-get-internet/809156 "2018-02-19T23:52:08Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2018, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-wise-for-space-x-to-put-11-000-satellites-into-space-for-a-new-way-to-get-internet/809156/21 "2018-02-20T03:37:31Z")
Latency and bandwidth. Latency could actually be better than fiber optics on the ground, since light is faster through a vacuum than through glass. A few hundred miles isn’t much in any case.
The improved bandwidth comes from the overall large number of satellites (each one only has to serve a smallish portion of the globe), and from their increased ability to use beamforming. I’m not sure what their beam spot size will be, but it could easily be less than a mile, as compared to the hundreds of miles for geostationary satellites.
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### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [February 20, 2018, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-wise-for-space-x-to-put-11-000-satellites-into-space-for-a-new-way-to-get-internet/809156/22 "2018-02-20T03:42:17Z")
> [@SigMan](#):
>
> The space is a big place and 11,000 aren’t really that many. We already have satellites that are dead and adrift out there. What’s a few more?
> …
_Space_ may be a big place but Low Earth Orbit (LEO) _aint_ so big and it is getting dangerously crowded. I present to you[the Kessler Syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome).
> [@](#):
>
> a scenario in which the density of objects in low earth orbit (LEO) is high enough that collisions between objects could cause a cascade where each collision generates space debris that increases the likelihood of further collisions.[3] One implication is that the distribution of debris in orbit could render space activities and the use of satellites in specific orbital ranges infeasible for many generations.[3] …
And as [this recent Wired bit](https://www.wired.com/story/the-space-junk-problem-is-about-to-get-a-whole-lot-gnarlier/) goes into, keeping track of the increasing number of trackable objects is getting harder to do … and the many many more objects too small to track (even paint chips) can also do enough damage to start a cascade.
> [@](#):
>
> Just how much bigger will the problem get? SpaceX alone plans to send up nearly 12,000 small internet-beaming objects over time. OneWeb has designs on some 700 similar sats. Planet just launched around 100 that take pictures of the Earth’s entire landmass every day. And those are just the heaviest hitters. Little orbiters—especially the smallest types, CubeSats and NanoSats—are within reach of research scientists, government agency experiments, smaller companies, and even individual humans. Take the private Breakthrough Starshot project, which eventually plans to send diminutive spacecraft to Alpha Centauri star system (really). It just launched six “Sprites”: the world’s smallest satellites, measuring 3.5 centimeters on a side.
Yes, the concept is that these many objects should be designed to deorbit naturally … but the risk of a one collision leading to a catastrophic cascade is real, not tiny, and increases as LEO gets more filled up.
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2020, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-really-wise-for-space-x-to-put-11-000-satellites-into-space-for-a-new-way-to-get-internet/809156/23 "2020-03-10T12:30:09Z")
[Musk thinks that his Kessler fleet will have no impact on astronomy](https://www.geekwire.com/2020/spacex-ceo-elon-musk-says-theres-nothing-fear-starlink-broadband-constellation/).
He really needs to build some good will on this–I suggest that he goes out in public and shakes lots and lots of hands.
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