COLGeek More space junk…great. Remember, at some point, what goes up must come down. What could possibly go wrong with this plan? <dripping with sarcasm> Considering the source, absurdity is becoming the dominant part of the things they dream up. Reply
Shiznizzle We are fast approaching a Kessler event and the inability to spot incoming asteroids. Scientists stated years ago that there is so much junk up there that it was causing issues for them. Nobody listens. Maybe not being able to place anything at all into orbit for the next 200 years will sharpen their resolve to not place too much junk up there or at least give it the means to deorbit itself and burn up. Reply
bit_user IMO, it's just SpaceX trying to cash in on the AI datacenter boom. We won't have to worry about this actually coming to fruition, assuming the AI bubble pops anytime soon. LordVile said: And why can’t you just do that terrestrially? Well, the AI datacenter building boom is running into all sorts of hurdles related to electricity supply, as well as some issues with finding suitable sites. I think their pitch is basically to avoid all of those issues by launching mini datacenter satellites where power & cooling aren't limited and (so far) there's abundant space (excuse the pun). Reply
bit_user Shiznizzle said: Scientists stated years ago that there is so much junk up there that it was causing issues for them. Nobody listens. It's a classic "tragedy of the commons" scenario. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons Nobody listens, because it's not in anyone's interest to hold back, so long as the others aren't. The space race is hot enough that nobody wants to sign any more binding treaties. Without those, incentives won't change and we can expect only to see more of the same behavior we witnessed thus far. Reply
FunSurfer We need a satellite with laser cannon that can detect and push debris back to the atmosphere. Heating debris from one side will cause gases to eject from that side and push the debris to the other side, so it will totally burn in the atmosphere. If the debris rotates, pulses of laser with timing will heat the same side. Reply
bit_user FunSurfer said: We need a satellite with laser cannon that can detect and push debris back to the atmosphere. Heating debris from one side will cause gases to eject from that side and push the debris to the other side, so it will totally burn in the atmosphere. If the debris rotates, pulses of laser with timing will heat the same side. Interesting idea. I think most debris will just start spinning because its irregular shape or composition will mean it'd burn in an irregular way. If you keep hitting it, after it starts spinning, it'll just spin faster and faster. Maybe a strong enough laser could completely burn up debris particles that are small enough. For larger bits of debris, you could make some sort of interceptor that tries to match their orbit and catches them. For smaller particles, perhaps one solution would be some kind gel block that you could use to trap them. Perhaps there's some formulation of gel that would slowly disintegrate in the solar wind, so that chunks which break off don't become yet more space debris. Once enough debris has been collected (or the gel becomes too degraded), you de-orbit it. The cleanup would need to focus on specific orbits. Otherwise, it'd be too big of a job. Reply
alan.campbell99 Flag under Elon says <x> crazy thing. I think it's unreasonable for the reasons others have already cited, I'd also add he was asked about the sheer launch cadence this endeavour would require I've often wondered about orbital clean up myself, it seems very necessary and should be taken seriously and responsibility assigned. Think one of my sillier ideas a while back was a membrane or rigid surface that could deflect the smallest junk down to burn up. These small pieces are probably the worst because of detection challenges. Reply
bit_user alan.campbell99 said: Flag under Elon says <x> crazy thing. Not exactly. This time, it's submitting a concrete plan in writing, to gain regulatory approval. So, that's definitely more serious than Elon just tweeting something on social media or running his mouth in some other public forum. alan.campbell99 said: Think one of my sillier ideas a while back was a membrane or rigid surface that could deflect the smallest junk down to burn up. These small pieces are probably the worst because of detection challenges. I think the kinetic energy of the particles is too high not to destroy whatever you're trying to bounce them off of. Reply
blppt I guess Elon is just embracing his inner Mr. Burns and at some point intends to just block out the sun. Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/spacex-formalizes-plan-to-build-1-million-satellite-orbital-data-center-system-fcc-filing-sketches-out-plans-but-over-packed-orbits-could-be-limiting-factor#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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