Yes, yes, yes!
This is how progress is done.
SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed
371–380 of 540 posts
Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed
#372We once heard about a company providing cheap fiber connections to major cities (and providing free WiFi to Africa via hot-air balloons). I think this goes in the same direction.
Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed
#373Free, 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).
>Free, Not free according to Musk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHeZHyOnsm4&t=12m37s > Well it can't be free. Because then we'll, like, we'll go out of business. [laugh] > No, no, it can't be free to the user. I don't think so. > This would be... this would cost a lot to build. Ultimately over time to build the full version of the system, we're talking about something that would be 10 or 15 billion dollars to crea…
15 billion to develop and deploy to space over four thousand satelites (not ignoring the fact that developing the prototype costs orders of magnitude more than simply assemblying the rest) seems like a gross underestimation...
Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed
#374napkin math (chemistry style): (4425 satellites * 23Gbps) / ((60,000PB of fixed internet traffic / 1 month [1]) * (12 months / 365 days) * (1 day / 24 hours ) * (1 hour / 60 minutes) * (1 minute / 60 seconds) * (8 bits / 1 byte) * (1024 Tera / 1 Peta) * (1024 Tera / 1 Giga)) = An astounding O(54% of global internet traffic) [2]! Obviously there are many many more variables in this [3]. Nonetheless this will be super…
>An astounding O(54% of global internet traffic) [2]! Thanks for working this out. This matches with Musk's stated goals for the project from January 2015 ("the majority" of internet traffic): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHeZHyOnsm4&t=2m40s >The focus is going to be on creating a global communications system. This is quite an ambitious effort. We're really talking about something which is... in the long term it w…
If it does actually work faster than fibre then some early high-paying customers could be high-frequency traders (HFT). Those folks already go to amazing lengths and great expense to shave milliseconds off latency. They could get a huge early cash injection by auctioning off exclusive, prioritised access between certain locations.
Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed
#375Earlier quoted context omitted.
I thought that space would have a low thermal conductivity, meaning that things with a high tdp (big iron) would just hold the heat, and not much would transfer. As I remember from high school physics, radiation is the least efficient form of heat transfer.
Correct. That's why I said the way to lose heat in a satellite is by radiation.
Ever heard of the Stefan-Boltzmann Law? This dictates the maximum amount of energy that can be radiated from an object per unit area for a specific temperature. The power is proportional to the fourth power of the temperature.
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/stefan.htm...
So for example if you have 300W worth of TDP, and a perfect black body radiator of half a square metre, then the radiator temperature is already going to hit your maximum CPU temperature of 50C, assuming it is perfectly shadowed from both the sun and the earth.
Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed
#376Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Free, Not free according to Musk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHeZHyOnsm4&t=12m37s > Well it can't be free. Because then we'll, like, we'll go out of business. [laugh] > No, no, it can't be free to the user. I don't think so. > This would be... this would cost a lot to build. Ultimately over time to build the full version of the system, we're talking about something that would be 10 or 15 billion dollars to crea…
15 billion to develop and deploy to space over four thousand satelites (not ignoring the fact that developing the prototype costs orders of magnitude more than simply assemblying the rest) seems like a gross underestimation...
Presumably they've thought this through before announcing it.
Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed
#377Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I think you're overstating the effect of fringe communities on the internet. Some believe that fringe information was a major factor in the U.S. Presidential election. A leader of a fringe community is the chief political advisor to the most powerful person in the world-elect.
I'd hardly call white nationalism fringe, it's self evidently been here a long time although in the daily discourse it's been ignored, or wished it wasn't as overt as it is. Well, this election showed otherwise. But that is not the only factor. There are probably a dozen stewing issues and Trump managed to ride the coat tails of quite a few of them, not least of which is some people who didn't want Trump president co…
As recently as the 50s, there were publicly active KKK groups throughout the US. Or at least, that's what I've gathered, from talking with locals who were adults then.
Edit: And there were (are?) "code words" for getting referrals. Some have even become everyday slang. But I've forgotten the specifics.
Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed
#378Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just because they're numerous doesn't mean they're not a lunatic fringe.
Lunatic, perhaps, but "fringe" actually does imply numeric inferiority.
no in politics it means on the extreme end of a spectrum eg the KKK or the equivalent on the left who where calling for the workers of the world to help our Baathist sisters and bothers crush the uprising.
Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed
#379Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Free, Not free according to Musk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHeZHyOnsm4&t=12m37s > Well it can't be free. Because then we'll, like, we'll go out of business. [laugh] > No, no, it can't be free to the user. I don't think so. > This would be... this would cost a lot to build. Ultimately over time to build the full version of the system, we're talking about something that would be 10 or 15 billion dollars to crea…
15 billion to develop and deploy to space over four thousand satelites (not ignoring the fact that developing the prototype costs orders of magnitude more than simply assemblying the rest) seems like a gross underestimation...
Musk's real practical talent seems to be as a "scaling enthusiast". While I don't want to come across as a fanboy, I've been re-thinking my assumptions recently based on his perspective of what the real costs of things should be when manufacturing, testing and QC is mostly automated and I can't find fault with a lot of his calculations.
Re: SpaceX plans worldwide satellite Internet with low latency, gigabit speed
#380How much will the base stations weigh? Light enough to be carried on a drone? High speed / low latency internet will be important in self-driven cars. Especially with phased array ground stations which can respond faster than the motion of a car. So now a crossover between SpaceX and Tesla? How much cellular cost the Tesla fleet, especially as the model 3 come out?
That's an interesting point. There are many companies excited to use low-bandwith 5G connection to link up all their IoT devices. A satellite network provides a means to route around the cell phone network, which could be valuable to Tesla if they think it's cheaper than buying data plans for their cars. It could also be an effective backup system in case cell networks are out of range or unavailable. I suppose the i…
Why provide ubiquitous internet coverage for a car that depends on electric charging stations to go anywhere? Remote areas have few charging stations for Tesla.