I agreee that SpaceX is unlikely to run into any issues with the number of satellites they are putting up, or coordinating those satellites.
However! It's disengenous to say land is 2d and orbits are 3d so there is more space in space. That
> space is even less of a “limited resource” than completely unpopulated areas of the Earth
Consider: how many Starlink constellations could reasonably be deployed in low earth orbit? Probably less than 1000, but maybe 10000-100000 (that would be a lot of satellites, but let's be generous).
Now how many Starlink constellations could be deployed in unpopulated areas of the Earth? Putting aside that they'd be useless, you could fit literally millions of constellations next to each other.
Space is big, but heavily constrained. One of the reasons something like an orbital ring would be so cool if we could get it to work - tons of space that is not constrained by orbital mechanics the same way free flying stations would be.
However! It's disengenous to say land is 2d and orbits are 3d so there is more space in space. That
> space is even less of a “limited resource” than completely unpopulated areas of the Earth
Consider: how many Starlink constellations could reasonably be deployed in low earth orbit? Probably less than 1000, but maybe 10000-100000 (that would be a lot of satellites, but let's be generous).
Now how many Starlink constellations could be deployed in unpopulated areas of the Earth? Putting aside that they'd be useless, you could fit literally millions of constellations next to each other.
Space is big, but heavily constrained. One of the reasons something like an orbital ring would be so cool if we could get it to work - tons of space that is not constrained by orbital mechanics the same way free flying stations would be.