Comment by collinmcnulty 3 days ago
I think GP's point is that an advanced nation-state could just as easily shoot down an orbiting data center as an oceanic data center and that "international space" offers an equally flimsy defense as "international waters" but a much larger price.
Swarms of satellites need to maneuver, which includes maneuvering directly toward the atmosphere.
It would take zero anti-satellite weapons to take down Starlink. Just point a good old fashioned gun at the SpaceX engineer who can issue maneuvering commands to the satellites.
On the contrary, orbital positions are quite limited. And space debris is already a large issue.
How absurd is absurdly decentralized, here. A hundred ground stations? Thousands? Do they really have more than can be shut down by the FBI domestically and blown up by the USAF internationally?
And how does decentralized ground infrastructure save you from a centralized executive?
Antisatellite weapons are expensive and rare, and also woefully inadequate for dealing with megaconstellations.
If there's one large orbital datacenter, then sure, ASAT is a threat to it. But if it's a dispersed swarm like the Starlink system?
Good luck making a dent in that. You'd run out of ASAT long before Musk runs out of Starlink.