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<blockquote type="cite" cite="mid:nycvar.QRO.7.76.6.2108121903160.1653956@qynat-yncgbc">
<br>
> Indeed. But there is more to this than that. Basically, each
satellite <br>
> in an inclined orbit crosses each parallel (latitude) up to
its <br>
> inclination twice per orbit. Since there is a lot less length
of <br>
> parallel at higher-numbered latitudes, parallels with
latitudes close <br>
> the the inclination get more satellite crossings per mile of
parallel <br>
> per hour. So more rockets isn't going to change the density
disparity <br>
> unless their satellites will go into orbits with vastly
different <br>
> inclinations (which I hope they will).<br>
<br>
the first shell is all the same inclination, but they have
launched enough to <br>
get full coverage even down to the equator. later shells are going
to be a <br>
different inclination.<br>
</blockquote>
<p>I'm quite aware of this, but Starlink have changed their orbital
configuration repeatedly over the life of the project thus far.
But having a satellite within range is only one half of the
connection. That satellite also needs to be able to link you to
something.<br>
</p>
<p>And so there won't be full coverage around the tropics for a
while as most Starlink birds at this point in time aren't equipped
with laser interconnects. They currently work bent pipe only,
which means being within a few hundred km of a teleport or no
connectivity at all. Many remote Pacific islands are further than
that away from the nearest other piece of land, let alone a
Starlink teleport.</p>
<p>But yeah, the plans are noted. I'd add to that that longish
zig-zagging laser forwarding paths pose the question of latency,
too, so it'll be interesting how that will play out.<br>
</p>
<blockquote type="cite" cite="mid:nycvar.QRO.7.76.6.2108121903160.1653956@qynat-yncgbc">
<br>
see the wikipedia page on starlink for the description of the
different shells<br>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink#Constellation_design_and_status" moz-do-not-send="true">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink#Constellation_design_and_status</a>.
phase 1 <br>
is ~4200 satellites (they've launched ~1700), phase 2 is an
additional ~7500 at <br>
a lower altitude, and they've talked about wanting a phase 3 that
would take the <br>
total count of over 40,000 satellites.<br>
</blockquote>
<p>Taken as read a long time ago ;-)</p>
--
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">****************************************************************
Dr. Ulrich Speidel
School of Computer Science
Room 303S.594 (City Campus)
Ph: (+64-9)-373-7599 ext. 85282
The University of Auckland
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:ulrich@cs.auckland.ac.nz">ulrich@cs.auckland.ac.nz</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~ulrich/">http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~ulrich/</a>
****************************************************************
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