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Starlink Ground Station Map

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Re: Starlink Ground Station Map

#11

Post by sneak »

ackbar03 wrote: post #10
sneak wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no direct connectivity between the satellites at this point, so starlink can't be expected to have global reach yet - you go up, and you come down within a certain distance of where you are. They will need ground stations all over the earth soon.

So currently all the internet for Starlink customers are from bouncing off Starlinks low-orbit satellites to these ground stations where they are connected via cable connected (normal internet) and served up, am I interpreting that correctly?

That's how I understand it, yes.

If double latency is okay, it may be possible to do M-shaped ones where an isolated ground station (with only power) relays solely between two different satellites to reach further, for example in the middle of oceans (with a ground station on an island or ship). I am not sure if they plan to implement this interim step or not, but it is technically possible.

Their eventual goal is to allow communication directly between the satellites (via laser is the plan, but who knows if that will reach production). It's in testing/R&D and is quite a difficult challenge.

Re: Starlink Ground Station Map

#12

Post by GekkePrutser »

chrissnell wrote: post #5

These are some very strange locations. Many of them are way out on country roads, some in places where I’m imagining they had to spent some money to get power service. Check out Panaca, NV, near the Utah border. I’ve been right through here and it’s super desolate. I’ve also been near the one in Evanston, WY and the one outside of Hutchinson, KS. There ain’t nothin’ out there! What’s the reasoning for these locations…

I bet the noise floor thing. Inmarsat (and the intelligence monitor station beside it) have been trying to block the 3.5Ghz spectrum in most of the Netherlands (up to 100km away or so).

They're now going to move somewhere else but it basically delayed the 5G rollout in the northern half of the country for years.

Re: Starlink Ground Station Map

#13

Post by supernova87a »

neals wrote: post #3

If this is going to work from my boat at some point, I'm never setting foot on land ever, again.

Unfortunately (at present) Starlink does not provide for mobile platform access. They say you have to stay within your access cell and people have reported inability to connect if the antenna is taken somewhere distant from the registered home position. Maybe that will change in the future though?

Re: Starlink Ground Station Map

#15

Post by jcrawfordor »

chrissnell wrote: post #5

These are some very strange locations. Many of them are way out on country roads, some in places where I’m imagining they had to spent some money to get power service. Check out Panaca, NV, near the Utah border. I’ve been right through here and it’s super desolate. I’ve also been near the one in Evanston, WY and the one outside of Hutchinson, KS. There ain’t nothin’ out there! What’s the reasoning for these locations…

The majority of sites in the United States, actually all of them I've checked, are pre-existing fiber shelters, mostly CenturyLink's in the west. They exist at various points on the fiber line for add-drop and power injection. It's not especially unusual to negotiate with carriers to install equipment at these sites as part of your transit agreement. I don't immediately see any aerial photos where SpaceX's equipment seems to have been installed but I would imagine they're adding the antenna and maybe another prefab shelter. But basically everything you're seeing at those sites on Google Maps right now isn't Starlink, it's existing carrier equipment.

Re: Starlink Ground Station Map

#16

Post by geoffpado »

Mengkudulangsat wrote: post #4

Wow. For a service that should have global reach, these are mostly in the US! I'm a lot more excited about LEO broadband compared to 5G. Sounds like a career change worth pursuing, even if you are halfway around the world.

The map legend points out that most of the data is from FCC filings, so other countries might not have complete data. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are still more stations in the US than elsewhere, but this map probably isn’t the best evidence for that.

Re: Starlink Ground Station Map

#17

Post by supernova87a »

Does anyone have an image of what one of these ground stations looks like? Do they piggyback on some existing antenna shack? Or did they build their own from scratch?

I also wonder whether they considered partnering with AWS Ground Station? https://aws.amazon.com/ground-station/

Or maybe the Starlink constellation's requirements are not amenable to that?

Re: Starlink Ground Station Map

#18

Post by sneak »

supernova87a wrote: post #17

Does anyone have an image of what one of these ground stations looks like? Do they piggyback on some existing antenna shack? Or did they build their own from scratch? I also wonder whether they considered partnering with AWS Ground Station? https://aws.amazon.com/ground-station/ Or maybe the Starlink constellation's requirements are not amenable to that?

Amazon is also planning an LEO internet constellation; being dependent upon a direct competitor for core infrastructure probably isn't a good idea, especially when that specific competitor (Amazon) has been busted before abusing its position as vendor to appropriate their customers' private information and enter their markets directly as participant.

If you are going to compete with Amazon, don't use AWS to do it.

I also doubt AWS ground station locations are numerous enough to provide the kind of service that Starlink needs.

Re: Starlink Ground Station Map

#19

Post by wikibob »

supernova87a wrote: post #13
neals wrote: post #3

If this is going to work from my boat at some point, I'm never setting foot on land ever, again.

Unfortunately (at present) Starlink does not provide for mobile platform access. They say you have to stay within your access cell and people have reported inability to connect if the antenna is taken somewhere distant from the registered home position. Maybe that will change in the future though?

That’s true, but only for capacity planning reasons during the beta.

They’re working on demonstrating flight use on a Air Force plane.

They’ve filed for FCC approval for mobile tests.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/8/22319761/spacex-starlink-f...

Elon’s tweeted about it

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1369051431903268865?s=21

Re: Starlink Ground Station Map

#20

Post by ackbar03 »

sneak wrote: post #11
ackbar03 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So currently all the internet for Starlink customers are from bouncing off Starlinks low-orbit satellites to these ground stations where they are connected via cable connected (normal internet) and served up, am I interpreting that correctly?

That's how I understand it, yes. If double latency is okay, it may be possible to do M-shaped ones where an isolated ground station (with only power) relays solely between two different satellites to reach further, for example in the middle of oceans (with a ground station on an island or ship). I am not sure if they plan to implement this interim step or not, but it is technically possible. Their eventual goal is to…

> Their eventual goal is to allow communication directly between the satellites

I guess they'll have to though if they want to make it more scale-able? They satellites will always have to be up in space, but with communication between them they won't have to build ground stations everywhere. Plus ground stations themselves have to have good internet connectivity

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