It's odd to see Americans siding with Russia, to be honest.

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[–] 1 point 6 minutes ago

As soon as they start making material progress, Elon yanks the rug on them.

You really gotta wonder who is running this shit show.

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  • [–] 5 points 4 hours ago (1 child)

    why is it odd? Putin is Trump's handler.

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  • [–] -4 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

    Starshield is a separate network with additional capabilities for military use. That is what Ukraine should use for drone strikes.

    Starlink is a civilian global internet service. Should a civilian network be used for war operations?

    Musk is a malignant narcissist, but for once he was making sense.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 hour ago

    when Russia attacked the satellite network Ukraine was using Musk sold them Starlink because Starshield didn't exist.

    It kind of wasn't OK for them to use civil tech for war and for musk to turn it on or off when he wanted so the Pentagon put the hardware under their contract.

    I'm not sure where the current problems come from. It's still being turned off and on but now both Musk and the US government don't admit who turns it off so I'm guessing it's Israel asking the US to disrupt Europe.

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  • [–] 9 points 7 hours ago (6 children)

    Recent reporting indicated Musk unilaterally made the decision to limit Starlink in Ukraine

    Starlink should be nationalized. It's too much power for a private citizen who has shown a propensity for abuse

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  • [–] 1 point 1 hour ago (5 children)

    Starlink can easily be disrupted by a simple missile attack triggering a Kessler syndrome reaction. LEO satellites were a stupid idea.

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  • [–] 1 point 53 minutes ago (3 children)

    If so simple why not happened?

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  • [–] 1 point 49 minutes ago* (2 children)

    Because humanity loses access to LEO for at least a generation if that happens.

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  • [–] 1 point 43 minutes ago (1 child)

    I know what Kessler syndrome is. Im saying that it's not that easy to get started especially for Russia. The us demonstrated it's capability in this respect with the DART "mission" which in my opinion was more of a military use case and something that absolutely shouldn't be funded by NASA. One would think that if it where that easy for Russia to get any advantage in this war they would have done it by now no matter the reprocussions.

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  • [–] 1 point 8 minutes ago* (last edited 1 minute ago)

    Deflecting a large, irregular, rotating mass in deep space is a pretty different mission from launching a missile at LEO targets or launching an explosive vehicle from a satellite currently in orbit. The people I know that worked DART are now working other civil space missions like Dragonfly, the mission to Titan.

    I guess they both involve orbital dynamics to calculate the rendezvous, but they're very different orbital regimes.

    Anyway, I disagree that it was military adjacent or more appropriate to be done via military funding. It doesn't have direct military application in the near future. Even proposals I've seen for stuff like GPS on the moon is being funded on the civilian side.

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  • [–] 4 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

    MARK plays russian politics with PUTIN, and with turmp.

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  • [–] 53 points 1 day ago (24 children)

    America (the government) is siding with Russia. Americans are not.

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  • [–] 26 points 1 day ago (2 children)
  • [–] 1 point 26 minutes ago (1 child)

    I mean, I plan to vote exclusively for Democrats, but I don't think it will change much. Even if Democrats sweep, and are acting in good faith, I agree with that recent NYTimes OpEd that the Legislative Branch has been effectively kneecapped by the Executive ignoring the law, subsuming power, and being protected by the Supreme Court. And then there is actually a possibility that 2028 voters will hold the Democratic Congress responsible for the shitshow that will continue.

    The system is beyond fixing.

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    [–] 35 points 1 day ago (3 children)

    If I've learned anything, it's how incredibly adaptable Ukrainians are.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 hours ago (1 child)

    "To a surrounded enemy you must leave a way of escape. Show him there is a road to safety, and so create in his mind the idea that there is an alternative to death."

    The whole russian propaganda aparat is against this... fear works for their people, and it's probably the only tactic they know.

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  • [–] 60 points 1 day ago (13 children)
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    [–] 37 points 1 day ago (5 children)

    Good way for Musk to make sure there'll be a lot more competition in that sector at a rapid pace.

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  • [–] 19 points 1 day ago (2 children)

    Other countries are accelerating plans. While I'm glad the world is ditching our tech, we need a kick in the teeth, I hate to see several competing constellations up there.

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  • [–] 2 points 16 hours ago

    Europe have been riding the coat tails of America with space infrastructure. Are only now looking to replace GPS. ESA will hopefully learn some lessons from starlink and make them less reflective and cause less environmental damage when they fall back down.

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  • [–] 3 points 18 hours ago

    I'd hate that, too. But I fears it's pretty inevitable by the logic of the world we live in. The Ukraine war has shown the military importance of such a system and Musk has made clear that having control of it is a strategic matter. So prepare for every block of power in the world to want their own constellation...

    I hate how our future is turning into the shittiest Sci-Fi I can think of.

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