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maxglutetoday at 12:00 AM3 repliesview on HN

I think OP is suggesting US concede to sharing 500km orbits that SpaceX has disproportionately squatted rights to, since current international law is first come first serve. Where concede is to rejigger international law to increase density of 500km so others wouldn't have to go higher, i.e. PRC mega constellations going ~800 because ~500 mostly taken. Or in ops suggestion, free for all. This is more costly for US since it saves entrants from going extra 300km, but imo proximity also greatly enhances chance for friction... i.e. if everyone chilling around same plane, and it's going to get magnitude more croweded, expect a lot more overt/hidden space war assets there to trigger kessler.


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m4rtinktoday at 10:47 AM

Others would use theblower orbits - but it is just not viable for them, as their rockets suck (eq. are not reusable) and thus they need to put their few expensive satellites with meager propulsion capabilities higher to last longer. Not to mention spot beams being wide enough with so few satellites.

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perihelionstoday at 9:58 AM

No; rather, that commenter's argument was

"The most tempting orbits are the ones in upper LEO that permit them to launch fewer satellites."

Higher altitude => wider coverage => fewer satellites

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MrBuddyCasinotoday at 1:16 PM

There is no such thing as international law. There are only voluntary agreements.

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