When you think space comes easy, especially for the well-established space-faring nations (the U.S., Russia, and China), life steps up and slaps you in the face.
The failures anomalies issues? Fairly recent examples include AEHF-1; Eutelsat W3B; the Glonass launch failure; SkyTerra 1 (resolved); and others. More recent examples include ViaSat-1 delays and Telstar 14R. Very recent examples include Russia’s apparent Breeze M (upper stage) failure and a Chinese Long March 2C failure (of an “experimental” payload). These non-successes are representative and not inclusive.
The lesson is if you can get an equivalent (or near equivalent) service from something that doesn’t have to go to space, you’d be foolish to not consider its use. While space is important, it isn’t like love, breathing air, drinkable water, or Cheetos.
In the meantime, enjoy the stars Starr in a music video from era when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Songs of Space & Nuclear War 