Government bets £500million on a horse

[noseall]

Perhaps the UK government wants the space technology so that all the Remoaners can be blasted into..

The stench of gammon remaining in the UK would be horrendous and the brain drain would lead to people like Bozza appearing clever.

 

[IT Minion]

No paywall pass needed - its all published without the jurno spin..
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-direction-for-the-purchase-of-oneweb

It's also wrong. The review says 'It would be the first mega-
constellation operator, if it succeeds' which would have been a fair statement a year or more ago but is no longer likely. OneWeb got the first 68 satellites up for their constellation (600-2,000 needed) before they went bust. SpaceX has ~540 in orbit now (1,600-40,000 needed), is flinging new batches of 60 up every 2-4 weeks, and is doing beta tests of it already. It isn't going to be first and doesn't really need that to succeed.

That's not to say we couldn't return a profit as a second to market provider, but it does imply the quality of the review is poor.

 

[Brigadier]

your posts are pointless. you just reiterate whats reported in the media. why?

Click bait?

 

[Brigadier]

So, big oneweb fans here then. For those that are t up to speed they're competing with SpaceX's starlink and a rumoured one from Amazon that's supposed to be in the works.

The idea is to lob several thousand (to tens of thousands) satellites into low earth orbit for cheap and fast satellite broadband. Not much use for cities and towns but potentially very good for villages and remote properties.

Getting that sort of network up and running costs a lot of money, OneWeb ran out of it. We apparently decided that we must buy this system as we weren't allowed to keeo the Galileo GPS system now we're leaving the EU.

How does no longer having access to a GPS system affect broadband provision?

 

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

Some people are taking the view the health workers shouldn't be getting a rise because most of them, including clerical staff and 'back of house' workers have been getting preferential treatment at shops such as early shopping and in a lot of shops getting as much as 20% off their bill.
I personally know of 1 health worker who never came anywhere near a risk area and has practically done no normal work for at least 3 1/2 months. Most of the time, she says, is sitting in the department rest room drinking tea/coffee and playing board games or doing things like crosswords, knitting and even playing cards! Yet she is still happy to 'jump the queue' at supermarkets and get her 20% discount wherever they are giving it. She freely admits that her and her colleagues have never had it so good.

Is it remotely possible that some health workers have had little to do because so much of the health provision has been cancelled or postponed to accommodate the Corona's needs and increase capacity for that virus?

 

[sxturbo]

No paywall pass needed - its all published without the jurno spin..
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-direction-for-the-purchase-of-oneweb

having read the letters, i concur i am on the side of the government, without risks the world would not evolve.

for decades people in rural areas have been complaining about the lack of broadband, and 3g/4g and now 5g signal, this has potential to alleviate this, it also has the potential to negate the need for telecommunications masts, it has the potential to provide us with class leading broadband speeds, not to mention the additional defence capabilities it could potentially provide, the UK government also are not the only investor to the project, and many other companies have already invested billions of dollars (it is unclear if these companies have lost their investment due to bankruptcy).

although spacex is first it does not hurt to have more than 1 provider of systems

a quick google search finds plenty of failed very costly government projects over the years under ALL governments https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labours-computer-blunders-cost-16326bn-1871967.html, project failure is not exclusive to Tories, despite what is consistently typed by people on here. My opinion is that all governments are a complete waste of space and they all fail, though there have been a couple of exceptions over the years. i actually abstained from voting in the last election as they were all pill ock s.

 

[IT Minion]

for decades people in rural areas have been complaining about the lack of broadband, and 3g/4g and now 5g signal, this has potential to alleviate this, it also has the potential to negate the need for telecommunications masts, it has the potential to provide us with class leading broadband speeds, not to mention the additional defence capabilities it could potentially provide, the UK government also are not the only investor to the project, and many other companies have already invested billions of dollars (it is unclear if these companies have lost their investment due to bankruptcy).

although spacex is first it does not hurt to have more than 1 provider of systems

Yes and no, the receivers for these systems are around the size of a large pizza box. It won't replace phone masts. They might shrink over time but it'll be a long long time before they get to handheld scale, If ever.

But it is designed to do rural broadband and may sort that out nicely. Either one dish per home or a cluster for a WAN.

On the question of project failure, yes there's a long and annoying history for all governments on failed projects. But it's really unusual for the government, especially a Tory government, to decide to buy a broadband startup. With the bank's they did it to preserve the UK industry but this isn't a fundamental part of our economy.

 

[IT Minion]

How does no longer having access to a GPS system affect broadband provision?

When this was first mentioned it was being suggested as a replacement for the Galileo program. Which was really confusing for everyone involved.

 

[conny]

Is it remotely possible that some health workers have had little to do because so much of the health provision has been cancelled or postponed to accommodate the Corona's needs and increase capacity for that virus?

Yes this is one of the possible reasons so why couldn't they be rotated to other departments and give staff working flat out a break?
The health worker I mentioned merely escorts you to the MRI suite from the waiting room so she couldn't be rotated but she, and others in a similar position, could have been furloughed which would have saved the NHS some money. I just find it a bit galling that these people got the discounts that others, who were putting their lives at risk and putting in extra hours, got for all their efforts. It's not a fair world when it comes down to it.

 

[motorbiking]

One company planned to rollout global 20-100mb satellite based broadband with low latency for double the kind of money we pay today per month approx 10 years ago. It would have revolutionised global working, navigation, tracking etc. Unfortunately they had a few rocket failures and it cost them several $bn each time. It takes time and more money to keep these projects going forward, something the UK govt, should have an interest in.

 

[Notch7]

. i actually abstained from voting in the last election as they were all pill ock s

There have been some great politicians in the past, on all sides, sadly not these days.
2019 seemed to hit an all time low....on all sides.

 

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

Yes this is one of the possible reasons so why couldn't they be rotated to other departments and give staff working flat out a break?

I wouldn't get too wrapped up about one individual.
There could be other reasons why they were unsuitable for rotation, e.g. high risk group, etc.

On top of that, if they were paid while furloughed, well it's all government money anyway, just a bit less. But then the government might have been in for criticism for furloughing health workers. Damned if you do, and damned if you don't.
Also, whose role would it be to decide who should be furloughed? And no-one really can guess how long the situation was/is going to last.

 

[IT Minion]

One company planned to rollout global 20-100mb satellite based broadband with low latency for double the kind of money we pay today per month approx 10 years ago. It would have revolutionised global working, navigation, tracking etc. Unfortunately they had a few rocket failures and it cost them several $bn each time. It takes time and more money to keep these projects going forward, something the UK govt, should have an interest in.

It shouldn't have been that bad, even 10 years ago a single Soyuz launch should have been $100-150m. But if they were doing the traditional huge satellite approach then they could have been expensive. The older approach to Satellites was to build big 5-10 ton monsters at huge expense. OneWeb is around 250kg each and Starlink is closer to 150kg each.

 

[ellal]

Do the Luddite Brexiters prefer to keep both feet firmly on the ground and their heads even more firmly up Boris's anus?

I have a feeling they also believe in the flat earth theory...

But how about something much more simple than a 'heath robinson' positioning system...

How is this 'world beating' track and trace app doing?

Oops

 

[IT Minion]

I have a feeling they also believe in the flat earth theory...

But how about something much more simple than a 'heath robinson' positioning system...

How is this 'world beating' track and trace app doing?

Oops

Apparently the Irish one is doing fairly well.