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SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed

arstechnica.com

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Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed

#11

Post by mattzito »

lettergram wrote: post #3

Does anyone know: (A) the potential lifespan of these satellites are? (B) Why has this not been done to date? I assume SpaceX expects that it'll be relatively affordable since they can reuse rockets. (C) Will this impact the launch capabilities of future rockets (4500 satellites are a lot)? My assumption is that the low earth orbit will likely aid in destroying those satellites as opposed to leaving them up there at…

I saw on another hn post about this that the satellites will have a 5 year lifespan, but will be decommissioned at the 1-2 year mark to insure they can be deorbited safely

Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed

#12

Post by djloche »

lettergram wrote: post #3

Does anyone know: (A) the potential lifespan of these satellites are? (B) Why has this not been done to date? I assume SpaceX expects that it'll be relatively affordable since they can reuse rockets. (C) Will this impact the launch capabilities of future rockets (4500 satellites are a lot)? My assumption is that the low earth orbit will likely aid in destroying those satellites as opposed to leaving them up there at…

They plan to deorbit after ~5-7 years, will replace with better, newer tech sats. It hasn't been done because the launch capacity and costs to date hasn't allowed for it. These will be launched via FH or BFR, which will be able to launch up many, many more at a time compared to the current F9.

Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed

#13

Post by blurbleblurble »

mattzito wrote: post #11
lettergram wrote: post #3

Does anyone know: (A) the potential lifespan of these satellites are? (B) Why has this not been done to date? I assume SpaceX expects that it'll be relatively affordable since they can reuse rockets. (C) Will this impact the launch capabilities of future rockets (4500 satellites are a lot)? My assumption is that the low earth orbit will likely aid in destroying those satellites as opposed to leaving them up there at…

I saw on another hn post about this that the satellites will have a 5 year lifespan, but will be decommissioned at the 1-2 year mark to insure they can be deorbited safely

seems so expensive for such a short lifespan

Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed

#14

Post by nickparker »

lettergram wrote: post #3

Does anyone know: (A) the potential lifespan of these satellites are? (B) Why has this not been done to date? I assume SpaceX expects that it'll be relatively affordable since they can reuse rockets. (C) Will this impact the launch capabilities of future rockets (4500 satellites are a lot)? My assumption is that the low earth orbit will likely aid in destroying those satellites as opposed to leaving them up there at…

A) The technical attachment lists the lifespan as 5 to 7 years

B) It's a triple play of radically reduced launch costs, rapidly dropping space hardware costs thanks to growth in the market, and improving RF tech to greatly increase the bandwidth such a constellation can provide. Ubiquitous connectivity is a great example of a technology that's going to happen because of the high level industry trends. The interesting question is whether it will be a SpaceX constellation, OneWeb constellation, or an atmospheric solution like Google's Loon or Facebook's Aquila.

C) 4500 satellites is more than we currently have in LEO total. However, LEO is low enough that atmospheric drag deorbits idle satellites relatively quickly. SpaceX's constellation is designed to deorbit on its own after their 7 year life.

Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed

#16

Post by icanhackit »

nabla9 wrote: post #6
whiddershins wrote: post #2

I don't understand the math. 800 satellites at 23 gbps seems to be able to provide 1 gbps to 18,400 connections at any given time. This seems to be many magnitudes off from what would be needed to have any impact. What am I missing?

SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed and very high price.

> [...] and very high price

Even if that's true they've effectively subsidized their rocket business and gained more experience through a greater number of launches. Often Elon is trying to kill more than one bird with every stone he throws - maybe he knows he'll need a solar network to support a Mars colony. This is how he gains the tools, people and experience to eventually roll it out.

Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed

#18

Post by brandmeyer »

lettergram wrote: post #3

Does anyone know: (A) the potential lifespan of these satellites are? (B) Why has this not been done to date? I assume SpaceX expects that it'll be relatively affordable since they can reuse rockets. (C) Will this impact the launch capabilities of future rockets (4500 satellites are a lot)? My assumption is that the low earth orbit will likely aid in destroying those satellites as opposed to leaving them up there at…

> (B) Why has this not been done to date?

For starters, since they will be in a low orbit (to reduce latency), each satellite will have a fairly low utilization. They will usually be flying over territory with no or very few humans within range.

Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed

#19

Post by digler999 »

whiddershins wrote: post #2

I don't understand the math. 800 satellites at 23 gbps seems to be able to provide 1 gbps to 18,400 connections at any given time. This seems to be many magnitudes off from what would be needed to have any impact. What am I missing?

1gbps may mean the theoretical max physical-layer link from a terrestrial client to one or perhaps multiple, satellites, assuming 100% signal strength, no other users, etc. More than likely it would be 1gbps asymmetric from the bird and a much lower upload speed, just like DSL.

Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed

#20

Post by sgt101 »

katzgrau wrote: post #7

Free, global internet access is the next step toward a smarter, more progressive planet. I don't even care about the speed - if the only thing users could access was wikipedia, I'd still personally donate to the project. I cannot emphasize how important democratizing knowledge is to me (and many others).

Ok, given the election I have to ask.... Who's knowledge will we democratize?
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