Race Is on to Deliver Internet from Space
1–10 of 32 posts
Re: Race Is on to Deliver Internet from Space
#2Slow race. Motorola tried this once already and failed with the Iridium Constellation in the 90s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_satellite_constellatio...
The venture went bankrupt and Motorola was actually on the verge of burning them up in the atmosphere when the Pentagon stepped in: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=119255
Another interesting thing about the Iridium Constellation is that the satellites have an unusual arrangement of large, flat antennae. This, along with detailed data about their position and orientation means that they create very predictable flares of reflected sunlight that are quite visible from Earth. You can usually a fairly bright flare every couple days:
Re: Race Is on to Deliver Internet from Space
#3Slow race. Motorola tried this once already and failed with the Iridium Constellation in the 90s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_satellite_constellatio... The venture went bankrupt and Motorola was actually on the verge of burning them up in the atmosphere when the Pentagon stepped in: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=119255 Another interesting thing about the Iridium Constellation is that the satelli…
Slow being the operative word.
Iridium failed at the Internet partly due to being slow as molasses. The data rate is 2400 bits per second.
Re: Race Is on to Deliver Internet from Space
#4I wonder whether China would consider any internet-supplying geosynchronous satellites over their borders as an affront to their sovereignty. Satellite internet (without a land-based backhaul) is surely the most effective way of subverting the Great Firewall.
Re: Race Is on to Deliver Internet from Space
#5Any thoughts on how to get around the paywall?
The google search trick isn't working for me.
Re: Race Is on to Deliver Internet from Space
#6Slow race. Motorola tried this once already and failed with the Iridium Constellation in the 90s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridium_satellite_constellatio... The venture went bankrupt and Motorola was actually on the verge of burning them up in the atmosphere when the Pentagon stepped in: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=119255 Another interesting thing about the Iridium Constellation is that the satelli…
Iridium wasn't intended for internet -- it was intended for voice only. And by the time they got enough birds in the air, most areas were covered by at least one voice provider, so the only potential market was people that traveled frequently to remote areas. Not to mention that you could never have a handset that fit in your pocket.
Now the way I thought Iridium should have been constructed, is to have the uplink be a portable micro cell unit, that regular phones could roam to. That way you would only need one Iridium phone, maybe located outside, and others could use their existing phones to connect to it.
Re: Race Is on to Deliver Internet from Space
#7I wonder whether China would consider any internet-supplying geosynchronous satellites over their borders as an affront to their sovereignty. Satellite internet (without a land-based backhaul) is surely the most effective way of subverting the Great Firewall.
People would still have to subscribe to the service, and I'm sure China could control their population's purchases to prevent them from paying for it. They could also use detectors (or jammers) and threaten their population enough to keep them from utilizing the service.
Re: Race Is on to Deliver Internet from Space
#8I wonder whether China would consider any internet-supplying geosynchronous satellites over their borders as an affront to their sovereignty. Satellite internet (without a land-based backhaul) is surely the most effective way of subverting the Great Firewall.
Geosynchronous wouldn't be over their borders. They fly around the equator.
Re: Race Is on to Deliver Internet from Space
#9Any thoughts on how to get around the paywall? The google search trick isn't working for me.
Re: Race Is on to Deliver Internet from Space
#10I wonder whether China would consider any internet-supplying geosynchronous satellites over their borders as an affront to their sovereignty. Satellite internet (without a land-based backhaul) is surely the most effective way of subverting the Great Firewall.
Geosynchronous wouldn't be over their borders. They fly around the equator.
Geosynchronous satellites don't have to be over the equator. Geosynchronous satellites that are over the equator are called geostationary.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geosynchronous_satellite#Defin...