A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, carrying the Arabsat 6A communications satellite, lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, April 11, 2019. Thom Baur/Reuters
Seeking Alpha: SpaceX's Starlink Satellites Are Getting On China's Nerves
Summary:
* SpaceX's Starlink promises to be the world's largest satellite internet constellation, with 12,000 satellites in low earth orbit all told.
* Despite having less than 2,000 satellites in orbit presently, Starlink has already proven to be a nuisance for others involved in space exploration and space economy.
* China's new space station has had two near-misses with Starlink satellites this year, leading the Chinese government to complain to the United Nations.
* Starlink is the linchpin of SpaceX's future profitability, underpinning the private firm's $100 billion valuation.
* In addition to the vast cost of, and questionable demand for, Starlink weighing on SpaceX's future, the company must also contend with mounting political and diplomatic risk.
In the span of less than two decades, Space Exploration Technologies (SPACE) has grown from a niche rocket startup into a key leader of the American aerospace industry.
In the process, SpaceX (as the company is more widely known) has solidified its status as a pioneer of 21st century spaceflight, while its founder and boss, Elon Musk, has risen to become the face of the emerging space economy.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: Glenn Reynolds is onto something .... I think China just figured out that, without even trying, Elon Musk has become the dominant military power in space, with thousands of satellites that can be steered to collide with anything else in low earth orbit (link here).