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ben_wtoday at 11:36 AM0 repliesview on HN

> I don't think this is true, Starlink satellites have an orbital lifetime of 5-7 years,

That's better than I thought, but still means their PV is only lasting order-of 20% of their ground lifespans, so the integrated lifetime energy output per unit mass of PV isn't meaningfully improved by locating them in space, even if they were launched by an efficient electromagnetic system rather than by a rocket.