Has Starlink Technology Failed?: Elon Musk provided satellites for the submarine Titanic

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What role does Elon Musk (51) play in the disappearance of the Titanic submarine Titan? His company apparently provided technology for the submarine, but Musk hasn’t responded once since the disappearance.

Blick explains what is known so far about the collaboration between the submarine company and Musk’s company Starlink and how the satellite technology works.

Three weeks before the mission, which left five people missing, Ocean Gate tweeted that Starlink would help the company with the mid-ocean dives. “Even though we are in the middle of the North Atlantic, we have the internet connection we need to make our Titanic diving operations a success – thank you Starlink,” the Ocean Gate Twitter account wrote. Starlink gave it a like.

It is currently unknown if Starlink played a role in the Titan’s disappearance or loss of communications, or if Starlink was used in any way during this mission. It is also unclear whether SpaceX, the company behind Starlink, and Ocean Gate have any further financial or business ties. That writes the “Business Insider”. Neither SpaceX nor Musk have commented on the boat’s disappearance.

Starlink Internet connections transmit data via satellite. Musk’s aerospace company has launched about 2,300 satellites into orbit since 2019. According to Musk’s vision, the satellite network should eventually consist of a total of 42,000 satellites. Satellite internet has the advantage that it is not dependent on transmitter masts on the ground. It can also be used in remote locations.

On the ground you need a receiver for internet via satellite. This connects to the next satellite. The receiver automatically tunes the receiving device, similar to a TV satellite dish, to an available satellite and establishes the connection.

Starlink is now active on all seven continents and in 34 countries. The service is available throughout Europe, much of North America and South America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Nigeria. The Starlink satellites were also active in Russia-invaded Ukraine, providing Ukrainians with internet when other communication channels were damaged. It is also available in Switzerland.

The Starlink hardware costs a one-off fee of CHF 300. The subscription to the internet service costs 66 francs per month. The choice is simple: there is only one – with unlimited data volume. The comparison portal Comparis also recommends taking the enormously higher power consumption into account. This is about 30 times higher than a conventional internet router.

Starlink has three main advantages: ease of use, a continuous data stream and an impressive internet speed.

However, several questions remain unanswered: What happens if the private Starlink project is sold and ends up in the wrong hands? For example, if totalitarian states can access the global network?

In addition, there are few competitors in the field of satellite internet. This gives Starlink a kind of monopoly position.

Another downside: Musk fills our orbit with his private satellites. After only five years they give up the ghost. So new satellites have to be launched all the time.

Other satellites could be compromised by the Starlink missiles. Astronomical observations from Earth would also become more difficult.

Source: Blick