Isn't the volume of orbits pretty large? Maybe someone can check my math. According the the article the mega-constellation would be at an altitude between 500 km and 2000 km. Radius of the earth is ~6400 km. So the volume of the orbits would be: 4/3*pi*((6400+2000)^3 - (6400+500)^3) = 1.1e12 km^3. I guess some of the orbits would be harder to get to than others (polar, etc). Also, what is the story like for improvements to glare. Seems like any reflected sunlight off of solar panels is wasted photons. Can coatings help with that?
Isn't the volume of orbits pretty large? Maybe someone can check my math. According the the article the mega-constellation would be at an altitude between 500 km and 2000 km. Radius of the earth is ~6400 km. So the volume of the orbits would be: 4/3*pi*((6400+2000)^3 - (6400+500)^3) = 1.1e12 km^3. I guess some of the orbits would be harder to get to than others (polar, etc). Also, what is the story like for improvements to glare. Seems like any reflected sunlight off of solar panels is wasted photons. Can coatings help with that?