I’m not saying SpaceX isn’t without valid critiques, but if you don’t see the value of reusable rockets and can’t even give them credit for spearheading that, I’m not sure what else to say. Make no mistake I think Elon Musk is a bigoted piece of shit, but I can also acknowledge that SpaceX has done important work
Yes, the rocket is reusable. The fuel is not, and by lowering the cost per kg of space freight, it has driven more usage of rockets. Which use non-renewable fuel at astounding rates and make huge emissions for a minor payload total.
We’re seeing extreme temperatures and unseasonal weather events already - James Webb is cool and the ISS does need service missions but Starlink is just more orbital trash waiting to happen.
It’s not helping. We aren’t going to get a “deus ex machina” moment on righting damage done to the environment. Yes focus on the bigger goals and pollution sources, but this is a trend in the wrong way to enlarge Elon’s money pile.
Starlink will never be orbital trash in any meaningful way. If everything failed today, they’d all deorbit within 5 years. It’s only in higher orbits where shit gets stuck for decades or hundreds of years.
Starlink will never be orbital trash in any meaningful way
You’re right. They’ll be atmospheric pollution. That’s what “burn up on reentry” means.
I’d like to see what people’s reactions would be if we put all the 6,219 starlink satellites in a pile on the ground and lit them on fire. Would they say “fuck yeah! Fast internet!” or would they say “are you out of your mind?”
And they plan on having 12,000 or something each lasting about 5 years.
Do you know what all those puffy clouds coming out of the engines at engine cut off and start up are? Kerosene or methane and oxygen. Do you know what injecting methane and kerosene into the upper atmosphere does to the planet? No, no one does because it wasn’t ever a problem when there were 5 launches a year. Now that there’s 5 launches a month we’re getting to the find out stage.
Same with starlink. What does aerosolized aluminum (and whatever else is “just burning up” on reentry) do to the upper atmosphere? When there were one or two satellites a year how would you know? Now that there’s several a month (20 in the last launch that didn’t make it up) we’ll find out.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say none of that will prove beneficial to life on earth. But yeah, the rocket is pretty cool.
