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The New Space Race: One Man's Mission to Build a Galactic Internet

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Re: The New Space Race: One Man's Mission to Build a Galactic Internet

#21

Post by onion2k »

LiweiZ wrote: post #12

I think one of the main advantages of the space internet is it will further take over the control of internet access. Regional rulers have to face a harder time on controlling internet. This will be a huge power to hold. And I guess it may reshape the world economically and politically. Any other thoughts regarding this?

The only way that affordable internet access is possible in any country is with explicit and complicit action from the government. You can't get everyone online if the government is run by a group of people who actively don't want it to happen. For example, if a government wants to stop its citizens accessing the web all they need to is make the necessary equipment illegal. When the price of being found with a satellite modem is 30 years in prison most people are going to forego internet access.

The sad thing is there are governments that not only have that sort of power but willingly use it.

Re: The New Space Race: One Man's Mission to Build a Galactic Internet

#22

Post by jsprogrammer »

onion2k wrote: post #21
LiweiZ wrote: post #12

I think one of the main advantages of the space internet is it will further take over the control of internet access. Regional rulers have to face a harder time on controlling internet. This will be a huge power to hold. And I guess it may reshape the world economically and politically. Any other thoughts regarding this?

The only way that affordable internet access is possible in any country is with explicit and complicit action from the government. You can't get everyone online if the government is run by a group of people who actively don't want it to happen. For example, if a government wants to stop its citizens accessing the web all they need to is make the necessary equipment illegal. When the price of being found with a satell…

Making something illegal is not all that needs to be done. The government would still need a detection and enforcement mechanism.

Re: The New Space Race: One Man's Mission to Build a Galactic Internet

#23

Post by eterm »

ihsw wrote: post #16
thescorer wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm having a hard time translating 150ms into something I understand right now which is Mbps. Can someone enlighten me?

Well, simply put, there's more to a good user experience than having some high Mbps. For example, if your latency is high then loading a web page with fifty small pictures will take longer than one really big picture. On your phone, when chatting with someone, the connection will be really choppy. Think of it as having a car that can go really fast in a straight line, but it takes a really long time to make any left…

> For example, if your latency is high then loading a web page with fifty small pictures will take longer than one really big picture.

This is true currently, but check out this http/2 demo with a tile of images loaded with different latencies:

https://http2.golang.org/gophertiles

If you have a http/2 enabled browser, then it shows how even with high latency, the browsing doesn't suffer nearly as much.

Re: The New Space Race: One Man's Mission to Build a Galactic Internet

#26

Post by maskedinvader »

jsprogrammer wrote: post #22
onion2k wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only way that affordable internet access is possible in any country is with explicit and complicit action from the government. You can't get everyone online if the government is run by a group of people who actively don't want it to happen. For example, if a government wants to stop its citizens accessing the web all they need to is make the necessary equipment illegal. When the price of being found with a satell…

Making something illegal is not all that needs to be done. The government would still need a detection and enforcement mechanism.

why was this down voted ?

ps. I ask sincerely trying to understand the reasons when I see grayed out text that seem (to me) quite a reasonable comment.

edit: typos

Re: The New Space Race: One Man's Mission to Build a Galactic Internet

#27

Post by micro_cam »

thescorer wrote: post #15
mytochar wrote: post #10

150ms is an incredible number, and the volume of satellites required will also increase bandwidth. This seems like a good situation to be in all around. I hope he succeeds at this work.

I'm having a hard time translating 150ms into something I understand right now which is Mbps. Can someone enlighten me?

One problem with existing satellite internet (or phone) is that the signal has to travel to and from a satellite thousands of miles above the equator causing a ~500ms (half second) delay or lag which is noticeable in voice or video calls, ssh sessions, games and even browsing the web. You'll press a key and it will take half a second for it to register, or say something and not be heard right away.

Getting this down to ~100ms puts it in the range of terrestrial communication and will make things much less noticeable.

Re: The New Space Race: One Man's Mission to Build a Galactic Internet

#28

Post by cmsmith »

onion2k wrote: post #21
LiweiZ wrote: post #12

I think one of the main advantages of the space internet is it will further take over the control of internet access. Regional rulers have to face a harder time on controlling internet. This will be a huge power to hold. And I guess it may reshape the world economically and politically. Any other thoughts regarding this?

The only way that affordable internet access is possible in any country is with explicit and complicit action from the government. You can't get everyone online if the government is run by a group of people who actively don't want it to happen. For example, if a government wants to stop its citizens accessing the web all they need to is make the necessary equipment illegal. When the price of being found with a satell…

For a counterexample, check the history of satellite TV in countries with media access laws [1, 2]. There is a lot of political room between 'western media is illegal' and 'we have a network of informants and will put your family in a forced labor camp'.

[1] Iran : http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-iranian-police...

[2] China: http://www.pcworld.com/article/194755/article.html

Re: The New Space Race: One Man's Mission to Build a Galactic Internet

#30

Post by icw »

nitinics wrote: post #29

Looks like they use Ka band [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O3b_%28satellite%29 ]. Wonder what were the factors of not choosing the Ku band. As far as I know Ku band is more cost effective and less susceptible to rain fade and such.

Much faster data rates I suspect - you can spend some of that on forward error correction to compensate for rain fade.
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