RE:RE:RE:Recent tweet this AM from Europe...can't confirmRead this past article ...near the bottom where Wade explains the "Time Share" concept of these constellations...excerpt below
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33226496
"However, constellations do have a chequered history. A number of past projects went bankrupt: they were not able to earn sufficient income to support the substantial early capital investment needed to build their orbiting networks.
Mr Larson said Urthecast did not intend to repeat the mistakes of history. One way to do that, he explained, was to get customers to buy into the constellation in the same way holidaymakers buy into timeshare apartments.
"These key strategic partners would help us fund the project through its build phase. If these customers buy a satellite or a pair of satellites, they can use not only those satellites when they're over their area of interest, they can also federate the capacity of the entire constellation. So not only do they get the cost-saving economies of buying satellites that are much cheaper because they're part of a constellation, but they're also getting the coverage and re-visit capability of way more satellites than they paid for."
This model is very similar to the one SSTL itself now operates with its Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC), in which a number of national governments have banded together to fly a group of EO satellites in orbit.
"Our system would be like DMC on steroids," said Mr Larson."