With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
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Re: With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
#2This may help explain why Verizon is cutting FiOS prices and increasing speeds: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/04/veriz...
Re: With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
#3This may help explain why Verizon is cutting FiOS prices and increasing speeds: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/04/veriz...
Gigabit fiber is being rolled out in my area. It is amazing how quickly it is progressing compared to the work of Verizon or Google Fiber. So at least from that one example, there seems to be new players entering cities
Re: With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
#4I was able to pay $20/mo for each month remaining on my contract to end service and start a new contract as a new customer when moving form 50/50 to 150/150.
Re: With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
#5"SpaceX has also proposed an additional 7,500 satellites operating even closer to the ground, saying that this will boost capacity and reduce latency in heavily populated areas."
This should be interesting, depending on how this is regulated on the legal side it could result in the major ISP's updating our infrastructure, of course nothing has stopped them from agreeing to update infrastructure then running off with our tax money in the past. Not to mention they will probably use legal means to hamstring this if possible. Hopefully this spurs competition in areas with stagnating ISP's and increases availability of low latency connections in sparsely populated areas.
Re: With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
#6Do we have space in orbit for this? This is a lot of satellites and I also don't get how the latency can be so much lower than current satellite ISPs?
Re: With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
#7My aunt's town in rural Western Massachusetts still only has broadband in the library plus scanty LTE service and current terrible satellite— how and whether to wire the town with broadband is driving the first contested election in decades.
This could make a major difference for that type of rural town.
Re: With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
#8Do we have space in orbit for this? This is a lot of satellites and I also don't get how the latency can be so much lower than current satellite ISPs?
The 4,425 satellites will "operat[e] in 83 orbital planes (at altitudes ranging from 1,110km to 1,325km)," and "require associated ground control facilities, gateway Earth stations, and end-user Earth stations," Cooper said. By contrast, the existing HughesNet satellite network has an altitude of about 35,400km, making for a much longer round-trip time than ground-based networks
Re: With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
#9"SpaceX has also proposed an additional 7,500 satellites operating even closer to the ground, saying that this will boost capacity and reduce latency in heavily populated areas." This should be interesting, depending on how this is regulated on the legal side it could result in the major ISP's updating our infrastructure, of course nothing has stopped them from agreeing to update infrastructure then running off with…
> Not to mention they will probably use legal means to hamstring this if possible.
I wonder how this could work. It's not like, e.g., Milwaukee has any legal oversight over LEO.
Re: With latency as low as 25ms, SpaceX to launch broadband satellites in 2019
#10Do we have space in orbit for this? This is a lot of satellites and I also don't get how the latency can be so much lower than current satellite ISPs?
To get an impression I think it's a good idea to start with these pictures taken from the ISS [0], which is at about 400 km altitude (it varies a bit but not that much)
- https://twistedsifter.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/nasa-earth...
- Spain: https://twistedsifter.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/nasa-earth...
Note that they are to the side, straight down you would see a much smaller area!
So the SpaceX satellites would be three times higher. Still, you can see you may need quite a few stations on the ground, and also why you need so many satellites. They will fly over the area very quickly and by then the communication will already have to have been handed over to the next one. There is so much earth to cover, with satellites much higher up you cover a much wider area and you can have them in a stationary orbit. Earth has a diameter of 12,742 km, I have to keep reminding myself that even the ISS is barely above the surface if you were to look at earth from a distance.
[0] Source: http://twistedsifter.com/2015/04/earth-day-gallery-by-nasa/