SpaceX Plans To Send the First of Its 4,425 Super-Fast Internet Satellites Into Space in 2019 (cnbc.com)

Elon Musk's SpaceX has laid out a plan to create a network of internet-providing satellites around Earth. The company hopes to start launching satellites into space in 2019, and will continue to send them in phases until 2024, when the network is expected to reach capacity. From a report:On Wednesday, Patricia Cooper, SpaceX's vice president of satellite government affairs, said later this year, the company will start testing the satellites themselves, launch one prototype before the end of the year and another during the "early months" of 2018. Following that, SpaceX will begin its satellite launch campaign in 2019. "The remaining satellites in the constellation will be launched in phases through 2024," Cooper said before the Senate's Committee on Commerce, Science and Technology. [...] SpaceX argues that the U.S. lags behind other developed nations in broadband speed and price competitiveness, while many rural areas are not serviced by traditional internet providers. The company's satellites will provide a "mesh network" in space that will be able to deliver high broadband speeds without the need for cables.

Comments

Re:That's a lot of satellites

[EndlessNameless]

Apparently, they are going to use phased arrays to track the satellites, so jitter should only be a real concern once every half-hour or so when it switches satellites.

I wouldn't call it a simple problem, but each piece of the puzzle is relatively well-understood now.

Getting a fleet of satellites into orbit will be expensive, but being a launch company takes some of the sting out of that.

Still, with a fleet of 4K satellites and 5- to 7-year lifespans, they will need to replace hundreds of satellites annually. They need some serious economies of scale for this to work.

First thoughts

[Baron_Yam]

I like the idea of more or less global Internet access. I mean, once I've paid Musk's fee... is he going to care if I talk to his satellites from Australia instead of Canada? No matter where I go, if I have power and a dish I should be able to get access.

On the other hand... if the NSA doesn't have a tap on this, I'll be very much surprised. And that bothers me on an ideological level even if it is unlikely to have an immediate and significant effect on me.

Re:That's a lot of satellites

[EndlessNameless]

Satellites in geostationary orbit are about 500-600 ms, with most of that time being due to the bounce out to orbit and back.

Since these satellites are 1/30 of the distance (~1200 km vs ~35000 km), the ping time should drop significantly.

Light traveling in a vacuum (or through the atmosphere) is noticeably faster than light in a fiber optic cable. And sat-to-sat links are straight lines, whereas fiber gets laid wherever there are rights of ways---so the satellite mesh may offer superior latency for some routes.

All things considered, this really sounds doable. Replacing hundreds of satellites every year would have been an inconceivably expensive cost just a few years ago. But with cheaper launches, smaller satellites, and a potential global market... I would say that this approach makes more sense today than geostationary satellites. As long as there is enough demand to keep lifting new hardware.