The Snow Melt Mode function of their Starlink satellite dish prevents snow from accumulating and interfering with the signal, but it also obviously provides a great seating area for cats.
SpaceX's Starlink is making steady profits, although it is still inactive in several countries, such as Greece. The newly established satellite internet service has surpassed 100.000 satellite dishes worldwide, overcoming all problems with speeds and with operating temperatures. However, the company has to deal with an unforeseen factor with its dishes: Cats love them.
Aaron Taylor reported the incredible incident on Twitter : “The Starlink works great until the cats discover that the dish is leaking heat on cold days."
His recent image of five cats huddled over a Starlink plate naturally went viral. In the photo, the Starlink dish is installed at ground level (not that the cats have a problem if it was on the tiles) and is surrounded by χιόνι. As noted by the news agency Tesla, SpaceX, but also the Tesmanian magazine, the Snow Melt Mode function of the dish may be to blame.
This feature, released in 2020, allows dishes to use self-heating capabilities to prevent snow from accumulating on it and to avoid signal interference.
In Aaron's Tweet, animal lovers around the world began to suggest alternatives solutions to keep the cats warm amid heavy snowfall, but Taylor responded that “They have full access to the heated house and come and go as they please. They are there by choice"
In short, these cats have plenty of other places to hide from the cold, but they choose to sit on a $ 499 terminal plate. Although being overweight could potentially damage the appliance, it remains unclear to what extent cats interfere with the dish's signal.
On Twitter, Taylor said that all these fur bodies that were stuck over the plate managed to slow down the performance of the service and interrupt the live streams of the movies, but did not completely interrupt the service.
It seems that cats are not the only ones who like dishes. In response to Taylor's tweet, one another Twitter user shared a photo of a bird on the plate with the caption: "Different species, same problem".
To be fair, there's not much SpaceX can do to prevent animals from enjoying the comfort of Starlink gear, except perhaps to suggest to users to install them in hard-to-reach places.
To date, SpaceX has deployed approximately 1.800 satellites as part of its goal of providing high-speed internet in rural areas with Starlink. Following promises from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and several missed deadlines, Starlink finally came out of beta in October. However, the success was short-lived, as the continuing global chip shortage has reduced production and delayed orders in late 2022 and 2023.
For Greece, we expect the legal framework in which the service will operate.