HACKER Q&A
📣 mariushn

Why Starlink satellites don't take photos of Earth?


Earth satellite photos (days old, and with daily frequency) are still too expensive for small startups.

Wouldn't have been a small extra cost for Starlink satellites to be equipped with cameras too, and have them continuously send photos to SpaceX? SpaceX could have sold subscriptions to access these at a reasonable price.


  👤 forgotmysn Accepted Answer ✓
earth satellite photos are not too expensive for start-ups. there are probably a dozen cubesat start-ups that are focused on satellite imaging. Planet Labs and Ursa Space come to mind immediately.

id imagine that starlink sats don't have cameras because that's already a saturated space.


👤 phillipseamore
I wouldn't be surprised if early Starlink sats are equipped with cameras and/or radar imaging to get some better data on performance in certain weather conditions etc.