Sooooo, am I understanding this correctly? In theory, the ability of the FAA to properly communicate and coordinate flight paths could (would) then be turned off and on at the whim of Musk himself via Starlink?
I mean, that's CLEARLY not raising EVERY RED FLAG IMAGINABLE.
Okay, let's all pause and break this down. The FAA uses a combination of networked hardware (like office computers, conference centers and VOIP) and radio communications. Keep in mind the FAA does a LOT more than just talk to planes in the sky. The network infrastructure is on fiber. (1/2)
The fiber is FENS. The network allows facilities to talk to each other, so if a facility goes down, another facility can take over as a back up (this is where the planes come in.) EITHER WAY airplanes talk on GPS and specific transmitter frequencies. (2/2)
Unless EVERY AIRLINE IN THE US decides to retrofit their fleet with Starlink, they talk DIRECTLY to the tower antenna. Full stop. This affects not the plane, but the facility handover if the site goes down. (A phone call works too, actually). This is stupid. Not a show stopper, but extremely stupid.
Yes. This would allow Elon to hide foreign planes entering our airspace. It would allow him to stop air travel as well. Won't be able to escape your state or fly to another country. It all sounds crazy, but we are now living in CRAZY.
I’m supposed to fly in just a couple of days. I’ve never been afraid of flying before. These rapid changes without careful testing are making me extremely nervous. That goes beyond just the shocking self-dealing by Musk.
Just so we are clear: they are, without valid cause, terminating the Verizon contract to further enrich Musk. They completely skipped the open bid process for government contracts….
Oh, and the fact that the FAA needs something with 100% uptime…but let’s use untested satellites 🤦♂️
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I mean, that's CLEARLY not raising EVERY RED FLAG IMAGINABLE.
I’m not saying it’s “unsafe” but it’s faster to drive than using most of their routes (especially if they get deprioritized for freight)
Thank you!
And currently Verizon owns the $4.2mill contract
Oh, and the fact that the FAA needs something with 100% uptime…but let’s use untested satellites 🤦♂️
Stop the madness
I tried to be my own resource lol