Facebook is “experimenting” with some LEO (low Earth orbit) satellites to connect the huge part of the world that remains without Internet access. After all, there are more than three billion products out there waiting to be sold, and Facebook wants to be the company that taps into all that merchandise those people. Wired did the footwork on this story, tracking down emails between the FCC and a lawyer representing Facebook through subsidiaries, but Facebook owned up to it when directly asked by the magazine. When I said “experimenting,” though, it really is an experiment. Facebook has been looking for ways to get the rest of the world connected for many years. Past experiments have included both a geosynchronous satellite (that blew up) and solar-powered gliders that didn’t work out. A network of up to thousands of LEO satellites, however, could do it.
Check It Out: Facebook ‘Experimenting’ with Low Earth Orbit Satellites for Internet Access
So we are talking another thousand pieces of junk in LEO to be cleaned up? At some point, we won’t be able to get out of LEO without being squashed like bugs.
There was an episode on Max Headroom where the various space agencies would all bring down old satelittes on one evening a year. This was a festival event, a manmade meteor shower.
How about first fixing your newsfeed?