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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

#521

Post by bigboris »

bogomipz wrote: post #507
bigboris wrote: post #502

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People have been trying this for decades without success. McCaw and Gates tried it in the 90s with Teledesic, for example. Iridium also tried it without success. IIRC, Teledesic's early estimates 20 years ago were ~$10B.

But hasn't satellite technology changed significantly in the interim since 90's with much smaller payloads i.e CubeSats and FemtoSats. These should theoretically result in lower deployment costs: small sattelites: http://news.mit.edu/2016/better-views-smaller-satellites-071... http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/04/the-next-big-thing-in...

Sure, but smaller payloads == smaller capabilities. Telecommunications satellites need massive switching capabilities and also massive power. They also need large antennas to service particular areas and they need propellant to maintain their orbits. How many CubeSats would be required to stream HD video to many thousands of people, for example? Not saying it can't be done, just saying that it isn't an easy problem to solve and there has been a lot of money already spent trying to solve it prior to Musk's announcement.

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

#522

Post by dilemma »

manachar wrote: post #128
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).

Spreading true (well, at least less wrong) information is a noble goal. Unfortunately, I'm not sure we're not seeing such information availability providing avenues towards a smarter, more progressive planet. Instead, the internet seems to be helping people create cocoons of ignorance and "evidence" to support even the most specious claims - such as the world being flat. Knowledge does not seem to be enough. Wisdom a…

If home internet was fast enough to power a turnkey server with software to provide similar capability to what we get from Google and Facebook today then, yes, it would free information.

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

#523

Post by danenania »

Consultant32452 wrote: post #492
EthanHeilman wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>How many of them knew Hillary literally created the Syrian refugee crisis in a failed attempt at a coup? Not a single one I talked to. There is no evidence that Clinton backed or supported a coup in Syria. The US did support elements of a popular uprising in Syria during the Arab spring, and then provided and continues to provide military support to Anti-Assad factions after Assad viciously cracked down on the upris…

The CIA trained, armed, and radicalized the Syrians to fan the flames of the "popular uprising" in Syria. Then, Iran and Russia came to the aid of their ally and the coup failed. Those Syrians migrated to Iraq and formed ISIS which is now active in over 30 countries. Of course, now that the coup has failed the Pentagon is backing Assad because... well I honestly don't know why. http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast…

Isis started in Iraq as Al Qaeda in Iraq, and is primarily led by former officers of Sadam Hussein's military. They certainly took advantage of the chaos in Syria, but it was the Iraq war that led to the formation of Isis. Syria just added fuel to the fire.

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

#524

Post by danenania »

brainwashedla wrote: post #396
geuis wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect this is just a phase. I don't have any hard stats at the moment to back it up, so it's just a feeling. Internet culture is still very young. At least in the US based on the election last week, the majority of people 18-25 voted progressive in most states. These are people who have never known the world without internet access. I guess that the people who voted the other way are folks who have transitioned i…

Your comment reeks of elitism. You think that Trump got elected because of "dumb people". If only they had read wikipedia their jobs would come back and their quality of life would have gone up. I think you will find the opposite is true. You have completely out-of-touch elitists who think everything is great, and then you have people who voted for Trump who are extremely aware of the reality of the situation. The pe…

Trump has evaded taxes on a massive scale, colluded with a foreign government to impact the election, and sexually assaulted many women. The only reason he wasn't/isn't under investigation himself is that the FBI favors his police state mentality.

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

#525

Post by namlem »

aalbertson wrote: post #491
flueedo wrote: post #373

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

Elon Musk != Donald Trump. When he makes statements/estimations, even if they prove significantly conservative, they are truly grounded in verifiable facts.

I certainly would not call Musk's statements conservative. He does ultimately deliver, but seldom on schedule.

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

#526

Post by namlem »

icehawk219 wrote: post #152

Something I find interesting about this: what does it mean for countries who monitor and filter/block content (think China)? Presumably since this isn't using their national infrastructure they would lose all control of it, no? I wonder how those countries would respond to SpaceX wanting to let their citizens use the service. Unless I'm missing something it seems to me like they wouldn't really be able to stop it.

You need base stations to receive the signal. Governments could potentially limit access to those.

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

#527

Post by EthanHeilman »

Consultant32452 wrote: post #492
EthanHeilman wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>How many of them knew Hillary literally created the Syrian refugee crisis in a failed attempt at a coup? Not a single one I talked to. There is no evidence that Clinton backed or supported a coup in Syria. The US did support elements of a popular uprising in Syria during the Arab spring, and then provided and continues to provide military support to Anti-Assad factions after Assad viciously cracked down on the upris…

The CIA trained, armed, and radicalized the Syrians to fan the flames of the "popular uprising" in Syria. Then, Iran and Russia came to the aid of their ally and the coup failed. Those Syrians migrated to Iraq and formed ISIS which is now active in over 30 countries. Of course, now that the coup has failed the Pentagon is backing Assad because... well I honestly don't know why. http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast…

1. US/CIA did not support a coup, no coup was attempted or has taken place in Syria, this is not even a point of controversy. Instead the US provided support to factions after a civil war had started. Revolution does not imply coup.

2. As another poster noted, ISIS started in Iraq not Syria.

3. The Syrian factions which the US supported are opposed to ISIS and fought several early battles against them. Some US allies in the region sent aid to ISIS, but the US worked to limit and stop that aid.

4. The Pentagon is not backing Assad and still provides aid to anti-Assad groups.

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

#528

Post by manigandham »

baq wrote: post #517
manigandham wrote: post #484

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unlike a lot of other people who seem to use good technology as a means of achieving money. There's nothing wrong with this. In fact many pure tech projects fail completely because they don't understand how to make money, ultimately helping no one.

that's the whole point of the GP: it's not the tech or the money that's the goal, it's the helping out part that drives both the tech and the money. i agree that this doesn't look usual and i applaud Musk for becoming rich and still being focused on his original goals instead of trying to make more money.

> being focused on his original goals instead of trying to make more money.

My point is that there's nothing wrong with trying to make more money as the goal. It's not some morally lesser option.

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

#529

Post by Consultant32452 »

EthanHeilman wrote: post #527
Consultant32452 wrote: post #492

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The CIA trained, armed, and radicalized the Syrians to fan the flames of the "popular uprising" in Syria. Then, Iran and Russia came to the aid of their ally and the coup failed. Those Syrians migrated to Iraq and formed ISIS which is now active in over 30 countries. Of course, now that the coup has failed the Pentagon is backing Assad because... well I honestly don't know why. http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast…

1. US/CIA did not support a coup, no coup was attempted or has taken place in Syria, this is not even a point of controversy. Instead the US provided support to factions after a civil war had started. Revolution does not imply coup. 2. As another poster noted, ISIS started in Iraq not Syria. 3. The Syrian factions which the US supported are opposed to ISIS and fought several early battles against them. Some US allies…

1. The CIA has been funding Syrian opposition forces since 2006, well before the civil war began in 2011.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_activities_in_Syria#Parami...

Wikileaks has reported that the US government has been covertly funding the Syrian opposition since 2006.[40]

2. Yes, ISIS started in Iraq, by not primarily by Iraqis. As I said, the Syrians who had been trained, armed, and radicalized by the CIA fled to Iraq when the coup failed and started ISIS.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/03/us-isi... A year into the Syrian rebellion, the US and its allies weren’t only supporting and arming an opposition they knew to be dominated by extreme sectarian groups; they were prepared to countenance the creation of some sort of “Islamic state” – despite the “grave danger” to Iraq’s unity – as a Sunni buffer to weaken Syria.

3. See #2 above, we clearly funded and armed what became ISIS.

4. You're right on this one. The reports of the two parties backed by the CIA and Pentagon fighting each other had me mixed up. That doesn't change the rest of the stuff above for which I've provided citations.

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

#530

Post by baq »

manigandham wrote: post #528
baq wrote: post #517

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's the whole point of the GP: it's not the tech or the money that's the goal, it's the helping out part that drives both the tech and the money. i agree that this doesn't look usual and i applaud Musk for becoming rich and still being focused on his original goals instead of trying to make more money.

> being focused on his original goals instead of trying to make more money. My point is that there's nothing wrong with trying to make more money as the goal. It's not some morally lesser option.

i'd rather not bring morality into this, because it's like an ass: everybody's got their own. my point is that 'making more money' is the easiest option if you're already at 'making money' stage, and it's not what Musk seems to be doing, unlike many.
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