Slashdot Mirror
Samsung Researchers Propose 4,600 Micro-Satellite Space Network
Bismillah writes: Samsung Electronics has proposed a network consisting of 4,600 micro-satellites that could act as backhaul for terrestrial cellular networks and take low-cost internet access worldwide. They project that by 2028, cellular and Wi-Fi traffic will exceed 1 zettabyte/month, and their goal is to design a system with equivalent capacity (PDF). "With the satellite-based backhaul, cellular and wi-fi deployments become practical in remote regions of the earth where there is no wired Internet infrastructure." The plan would require significant amounts of wireless spectrum, as well as satellites capable of 1 Tb/s or higher.
It could, but it won't.
There's far too much corporate interest in making sure we pay through the nose for cellular and internet access.
They're not going to allow low-cost anything. They might lower their costs, and increase their profits. But they will actively resist ever lowering our costs.
Low cost? Affordable? That sounds like communism right there, there's shareholder value and executive bonuses to maintain.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Even better question - who is gonna clean up all that space junk once the satellites die, or track it all while it's active? That's a lot of pieces that can potentially puncture a rocket, satellite, or crew capsule on it's way up, and we've got a lot of hazardous crap up there as it is.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
Even better question - who is gonna clean up all that space junk once the satellites die, or track it all while it's active? That's a lot of pieces that can potentially puncture a rocket, satellite, or crew capsule on it's way up, and we've got a lot of hazardous crap up there as it is.
This concern cannot be heard over the thunderous roar of Capitalism.
Neither can common sense.
Don't worry though. The irony will hit humanity like a fucking brick to the face once we find we have the technology to get off this rock, and yet cannot figure out a way to safely navigate through the cesspool of debris we've put in orbit.