Amazon's Project Kuiper, which uses optical inter-satellite link (OISL) technology to connect more than 3,000 satellites in a mesh network that blankets Earth, just cleared a final hurdle needed to launch next year.

Project Kuiper: Amazon’s answer to SpaceX’s Starlink passes ‘crucial’ test::Amazon’s Project Kuiper, which uses optical inter-satellite link (OISL) technology to connect more than 3,000 satellites in a mesh network that blankets Earth, just cleared a final hurdle needed to launch next year.

  • partial_accumenEnglish
    3•10 months ago

    Call me a socialist, but the moment the tech was proven either the US or some UN based org should have eminent domained and brought Starlink.

    That would have had a functional constellation for about 4 years or so. Without constantly launching new satellites, the constellation would degrade to uselessness. Who’s going to buy the rockets and replacement satellites and keep launching replacements?

    • @PlutoniumAcidEnglish
      -1•10 months ago

      Who? If it’s not either profitable or has a distinct benefit, then it does not deserve to exist.