Starlink’s Self-Heating Dishes Are Attracting Cats

As a company that produces self-heating cat dishes, Starlink has been inundated with furry feline friends. The company’s CEO was quoted as saying “It’s like we have our own planet of cats.”

The “self heating meals” is a Starlink’s dish that has been attracting cats. The company has stated that they are not going to stop making the product, despite their cat-attracting capabilities.

Image courtesy of Starlink

Customers have been dissatisfied with Starlink in recent months, but a new finding may help the company earn favor with animal lovers. After a recent snowstorm, one such client saw five cats gathered together on top of the dish through a window. Starlink’s satellite dishes were reportedly modified with a snow melt mode in 2020, and it provides just enough heat to lure the chilly felines.

“Starlink works well until the cats discover that the dish gives out a little heat on chilly days,” claimed Twitter user Aaron Taylor, who tweeted a photo of them. Others have already commented, referring to it as a “Catellite” dish or “Intercat” connection. Despite having a heated cat housing with food and water and the outside temperature being below zero, Aaron said that they prefer to spend the day on the dish. At least one other user has shared a photo of a bird with the same idea about how to make the most use of the dish.

Same issue, different species. twitter.com/OzG2bOoaWv

January 1, 2022 — Nico Thirion (@Nicothirion)

The snow melt mode is one of the constant upgrades that Tesla has been rolling out for Starlink. Another includes the ability for the dish to seek out satellites to download and upgrade themselves, along with receiving up-to-date info on the location of the constellation or other active satellites in deployment. Starlink engineers provided some details on the power-up process that initiates the tracking abilities of the dish during a Q&A roundup in 2020.

When the Starlink first turns on, it has no knowledge of the satellites; the constellation is constantly upgrading, so this would be tough to keep up with. Even though it’s moving 17,500 mph above, the Starlink can electrically scan the sky in milliseconds and latch with the satellite overhead.

When the Starlink finds a satellite, it zeroes in on its location and requests to join the internet. After then, the dish may download a schedule of which satellites to speak to next, and when the time comes, it can aim directly towards the satellites.”

This might assist to explain why the animals are drawn to the dish’s upward-facing posture. Even when internet speeds fell and video streaming was delayed, Aaron stated the dish still functioned, despite the packed kittens. The maximum supported wildlife weight has yet to be determined by engineers.

TESMANIAN is the source of this information (via Gizmodo)