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499 points perihelions | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
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nabla9 ◴[] No.42191758[source]
October 2023 there was similar incident where Chinese cargo ship cut Balticonnector cable and EE-S1 cable. Chip named 'Newnew Polar Bear' under Chinese flag and Chinese company Hainan Xin Xin Yang Shipping Co, Ltd. (aka Torgmoll) with CEO named Yelena V. Maksimova, drags anchor in the seabed cutting cables. Chinese investigation claims storm was the reason, but there was no storm, just normal windy autumn weather. The ship just lowered one anchor and dragged it with engines running long time across the seabed until the anchor broke.

These things happen sometimes, ship anchors sometimes damage cables, but not this often and without serious problems in the ship. Russians are attempting plausible deniability.

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cabirum ◴[] No.42192160[source]
After the Nordstream pipeline attacked and destroyed, its reasonable to expect shortened lifetimes for undersea cables and sattelites.
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nradov ◴[] No.42194448[source]
Yes, this is why having a prompt satellite launch capability to replace attrition losses is now a strategic imperative. We need to be able to put up new ones in a matter of hours, not months.
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PaulDavisThe1st ◴[] No.42196917{3}[source]
"we" are not doing anything AFAICT. Various privately owned corporations might be, and that's very different.

Yes, I know the undersea cables are privately owned too.

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nradov ◴[] No.42198083{4}[source]
At this point it's a distinction without much of a difference. For better or worse, SpaceX has now been fully integrated into the US military-industrial complex. They have huge DoD contracts to build out the Starshield constellation, including the prompt replacement capability. The US government is going to treat attacks on our critical communications infrastructure seriously, regardless of whether the hardware is publicly or privately owned.
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PaulDavisThe1st ◴[] No.42199100{5}[source]
Not clear how the world's richest man sees this situation. He certainly appeared to feel free to make his own decisions in Ukraine.
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1. thejazzman ◴[] No.42199227{6}[source]
It's acknowledged in his original biography that the government could seize SpaceX from him for national security purposes etc

But that's an awfully gray area after the last few months