Starlink Beta Test

[snoopy7548]

Telescope users are still a bit peeved with Elon...

View attachment 43361

A couple of nights ago after work I was getting my mail from the mailbox, and walking back I looked up at the sky and saw a straight line of lights just sitting there. I was like, "WTF is that?" But then after going inside I forgot about it.

This morning on NextDoor, someone posted a video of it and a few people confirmed it was Starlink satellites.

Starlink Satellites Tracker - Check when you can see it!

Calculate when you can see the Starlink satellites above your location

findstarlink.com

 

[Red Squirrel]

Hopefully the newer sats that use a shade will be better as far as blocking out the sun's reflection. The problem is not spaceX alone, but the fact that everybody else is going to want to get in on this eventually. Amazon, Verizon, Virgin, Comcast etc... I'm sure they're all eventually going to want to have their own constellations. Doing a 30sec exposure is going to come out looking like graph paper.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Hopefully the newer sats that use a shade will be better as far as blocking out the sun's reflection.

"The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades!"

 

[Steltek]

Starlink hikes prices to $599 up-front and $110 per month, blames inflation

SpaceX: "Sole purpose" of price hikes "is to keep pace with rising inflation."

arstechnica.com

Figures they'd raise the price, then exactly 25 minutes later send me an email telling me I have 7 days to pay for the terminal hardware if I want it.

 

[Charmonium]

@Steltek I've heard bits about Starlink but never saw any kind of summary or presentation. And I don't read much these days. I think its a mobile phone via satellite. Or what we might otherwise call a sat phone. I do however assume there's a lot more to it, I'm just ig-or-int