Wil LaFountain

Starlink PCB and Silicon.
I am lucky enough to have my signature on every Starlink satellite that has ever flown.

[Wil LaFountain @semispacetronic]

@SamuraiShibaJP Just did 15 hours on Sunday to visit my family.

[Wil LaFountain @semispacetronic]

@jake_power41724 @pbeisel Then it looks like patience is what is needed. I have worked for Elon for nearly 8 years. I have disagreed with him on a few things... Some of which I was right and some I was wrong. He is very quick to change his mind when proven wrong, although the effort of proof is hard.

[Wil LaFountain @semispacetronic]

Ahh yes, because the first to do anything obviously should do it optimally, as if they have the benefit of hindsight. (this is a luxury belief)

Living in a world where you have the opportunity to sell you time for sustenance is such a luxury. People like you would starve to death if you had to grow your own food. (this is a luxury belief)

Are there people being exploited? Yeah sure... but its far less than any other time in history and it basically illegal in all western countries.

[Wil LaFountain @semispacetronic]

@jake_power41724 @pbeisel You should sell if you don't have the stomach for spending money on insane engineering projects.

[Wil LaFountain @semispacetronic]

@CindyLoweLane I love that this was the post above yours.

https://t.co/cTNiNSY3zb

[KanekoaTheGreat @KanekoaTheGreat]

ELON MUSK: SpaceX took the team that dominates space and “applied that same team to the deployment of terrestrial compute.”

“This is a bit like the New York Yankees playing in little league. It’s not fair.”

SpaceX puts almost 90% of all mass into orbit. China is roughly 6%. The rest of the world combined, including the rest of the U.S., is about 4%.

That’s “an order of magnitude greater” than all its space competitors combined.

Now that team is deploying power, cooling, and infrastructure “vastly faster than anyone else, and may at some point be faster than everyone else combined.”

“Let that sink in for a minute.”

[Wil LaFountain @semispacetronic]

@PyrealRat @KanekoaTheGreat This is a lot more true than you probably realize.

[Wil LaFountain @semispacetronic]

@flying_dusk @KanekoaTheGreat 🤣 yeah space flight is notorious for having no regulations, especially human space flight.

[Wil LaFountain @semispacetronic]

So it doesn't count?

Who owns the mass doesn't matter to the system; To the falcon team that turns around a booster in a few days, ready to fly again. To our satellite factory and technicians who spit out more satellites per day than any other company makes in a year.

What about the Starbase factory, does it change how impactful their work is becaue the main customer is a separate entity within spacex that makes us billions a month?

SpaceX isn't a launch company anymore. We are a space company that owns a bunch of delivery vehicles... Just like many other companies own a bunch of trucks.

[KanekoaTheGreat @KanekoaTheGreat]

ELON MUSK: SpaceX took the team that dominates space and “applied that same team to the deployment of terrestrial compute.”

“This is a bit like the New York Yankees playing in little league. It’s not fair.”

SpaceX puts almost 90% of all mass into orbit. China is roughly 6%. The rest of the world combined, including the rest of the U.S., is about 4%.

That’s “an order of magnitude greater” than all its space competitors combined.

Now that team is deploying power, cooling, and infrastructure “vastly faster than anyone else, and may at some point be faster than everyone else combined.”

“Let that sink in for a minute.”

[Wil LaFountain @semispacetronic]

@gabriel_zucman No the tax system is the worst place for anyone's money.

[Wil LaFountain @semispacetronic]

@ethanblagg @_dynamo_air part of*

[Wil LaFountain @semispacetronic]

@ethanblagg @_dynamo_air Yup, for sure a partner an exciting future.

[Wil LaFountain @semispacetronic]

Capitalism is entirely responsible for the fact that we do not live in the same squalor that we did 200+ years ago, that alone is a reason to be a proponent.

Will there ever be a better governing system? Probably but it will most certainly be a refinement of capitalism and not a refinement of communism.

[Wil LaFountain @semispacetronic]

Its a population density problem. There is hardly anyone up north of the border region (I know because I was born up there). If you knew what our sats were capable of you would understand why we can provide full coverage up there with less sats. I was part of the original orbit planning meetings for Starlink. Southern Canada/Northern USA was our first targets for full coverage. Canada is now 100% covered by Starlink.

[Wil LaFountain @semispacetronic]

@ApoStructura @Al_Rationale1 I can attest to that.

[planefag @planefag]

We've had satellite telecommunications for many decades now. What makes Starlink so unique is that it's a Low Earth Orbit constellation, which drastically lowers latency and improves bandwidth; two things that usually make satellite connections sub-par compared to almost any other option. But to get global coverage at such low altitude you need a massive constellation of thousands of birds - which is why SpaceX was the first to build one, as their launch costs are lower by an order of magnitude due to having reusable rockets.

To make any kind of competitor to Starlink/Starshield, you'll need a re-usable rocket of your own, or to pay SpaceX to launch them - and they may well decline to orbit the birds of a competitor.

This is a unique capability that only the United States has ownership of. The idea that anyone can just "replace" Starlink is born of profound stupidity.

[Wil LaFountain @semispacetronic]

@ImSorrySaka @ThOne_AndOnly @NyaNiji Its comical that you consider arguing for socialist and communist ideals "thinking"

[Wil LaFountain @semispacetronic]

@ImSorrySaka @ThOne_AndOnly @NyaNiji China wages economic wars, and has funded many others. It also has never had enough international backing or internal capability until recently to wage traditional warfare. It also wouldn't serve its purpose right now.

[Wil LaFountain @semispacetronic]

@ImSorrySaka @ThOne_AndOnly @NyaNiji Yes, China is a great example of how abandoning communist principles can make some wealthy. However to do that they showed more greed and exploitation of their workers than any western corporation ever has.

[Wil LaFountain @semispacetronic]

@ImSorrySaka @ThOne_AndOnly @NyaNiji Basically history has shown you to be exactly wrong. The more a government takes the more the people suffer. This experiment has been run many times. And people making the same arguments as you are the useful idiots that make it possible.