Lasers enable satellite internet backbone, might remove need for deep-sea cables
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Re: Lasers enable satellite internet backbone, might remove need for deep-sea cables
#2Neat, but won't it be slower?
Re: Lasers enable satellite internet backbone, might remove need for deep-sea cables
#3Does it bring any latency improvements for users?
Re: Lasers enable satellite internet backbone, might remove need for deep-sea cables
#4Eliminate deep sea cables? How are they going to send the lasers in a curve from one base station to the next?
Starlink is already working on a backhaul from satellite to satellite. Interestingly, they claim that they can speed up data transfers by 50% over long distances. Musk said that in a Tweet which I cannot find now. I looked a bit into it and the reason seems to be that light trough a cable can only reach 70% of the speed of light while lasers through the vacuum of space can reach the speed of light.
Re: Lasers enable satellite internet backbone, might remove need for deep-sea cables
#5> Although the laser system was not directly tested with an orbiting satellite, they accomplished high-data transmission over a free-space distance of 53km (33 miles).
This is peanuts compared to under sea cables and issues you will find penetrating atmosphere and increasingly, space.
We should keep under sea cables and work on additional connections to make our networks more resilient, both to natural phenomena, equipment failures and sabotage.
Re: Lasers enable satellite internet backbone, might remove need for deep-sea cables
#6Neat, but won't it be slower?
It should be faster, the speed of light in optical fiber is only 2/3 of that in vacuum (and air). I'm more concerned about clouds and storms.
Re: Lasers enable satellite internet backbone, might remove need for deep-sea cables
#7Great for countries that think they can control space, not so great for those without ASAT capabilities.
Re: Lasers enable satellite internet backbone, might remove need for deep-sea cables
#8Eliminate deep sea cables? How are they going to send the lasers in a curve from one base station to the next? Starlink is already working on a backhaul from satellite to satellite. Interestingly, they claim that they can speed up data transfers by 50% over long distances. Musk said that in a Tweet which I cannot find now. I looked a bit into it and the reason seems to be that light trough a cable can only reach 70%…
> Eliminate deep sea cables? How are they going to send the lasers in a curve from one base station to the next?
Multiple satellites. The ISS can see about a thousand miles in each direction to the horizon, so you'd only need to bounce across a couple to cross the Atlantic.
Re: Lasers enable satellite internet backbone, might remove need for deep-sea cables
#9> Although the laser system was not directly tested with an orbiting satellite, they accomplished high-data transmission over a free-space distance of 53km (33 miles). This is peanuts compared to under sea cables and issues you will find penetrating atmosphere and increasingly, space. We should keep under sea cables and work on additional connections to make our networks more resilient, both to natural phenomena, equ…
> more resilient, both to natural phenomena, equipment failures and sabotage.
I think you're understating the risks from geomagnetic storms. In comparison to satellites, fiber optic cables seem like they'd be relatively unaffected even if the equipment attached to them needs replacement.
Re: Lasers enable satellite internet backbone, might remove need for deep-sea cables
#10FTA: "However, scaling up is not something Leuthold and his team will be concerning themselves with".
As an engineer, the words "devil" and "details" come to mind.