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Facebook Confirms It's Working on a New Internet Satellite (wired.com)
A host of companies believe the better way to connect the estimated half of Earth's population that's still offline is to launch "constellations" of smaller satellites into low Earth orbit, around 100 to 1,250 miles above our planet. According to emails from the Federal Communications Commission, which Wired obtained by filing a Freedom of Information Act request, Facebook is officially one such company. From the report: The emails show that the social network wants to launch Athena, its very own internet satellite, in early 2019. The new device is designed to "efficiently provide broadband access to unserved and underserved areas throughout the world," according to an application the social network appears to have filed with the FCC under the name PointView Tech LLC. With the filing, Facebook joins Elon Musk's SpaceX and Softbank-backed OneWeb, two well-funded organizations working on similar projects. In fact, SpaceX launched the first two of what it hopes will be thousands of its Starlink satellites just this past February. The emails, which date back to July 2016, and subsequent confirmation from Facebook, confirm a story published in May by IEEE Spectrum, which used public records to speculate that Facebook had started a satellite internet project.
Yep, this is all about Facebool being able to track and data mine you without another ISP being in the middle. End-to-end tracking of all your activity is all these companies care about.
To make it easier to "share" information.
Might be easier than other LEO efforts because they're only covering "unserved and underserved areas throughout the world" which doesn't apply to places that are already well served. e.g. EU,USA,etc.
How about investing in roads, fiber optics, plumbing, housing and health care to bring everyone up to first world standards? Is that too hard? You're worth $100 billion, that's more than enough money to do it.
Well it does reduce the chances of your personal information from leaking out and/or being sold.
So they will be able to track you from space, whether you have a Facebook account or not.
No, it raises the changes significantly, because it means Facebook collects more information and is able to connect much more of the information it has about you and others together.
This is a terrible idea, and is another reason why Facebook needs to be shut down.
Well that certainly explains both mobile ISPs, as well as Google fiber.
Is this a more expensive version of "internet.org internet basics", IOW facebook+paying "friends"?
At that height, no satellite will stay in "orbit" very long, due to atmospheric drag. I don't have the figures here but at 100 miles up, the daily loss of altitude will be easily noticed. And it is expensive to correct that loss. Mind you , it is much easier to launch to 100 miles than to a more stable altitude like 600 miles, provided you don't mind losing the satellite very soon.
The greatest Christian ever was Jewish.
Don't think too hard on it. Shouldn't you be on a boat somewhere getting drunk and about to say, "hold mah beer and watch this!"
Even if this ends up being free, I would rather pay an ISP and have it less likely that my data is being sold. I parted ways with Facebook 8 months ago and that parting was permanent.
When your GPS devices (from your vehicle, cell phone) send data to the satellite, are the signals broadcast in a way that all satellites are capable of picking up, or is there some authentication involved?
The question is - Is there a way to prevent Facebook from intercepting GPS data connections, because this is clear that this will be a natural progression for them, whether we'd like it or not.
With more self-driving cars on the road, which are always-connected (and no way of opting out), this makes things even more troublesome if there's not further way of opting out this kind of location to Facebook.
This is seriously fucked.
It guarantees your personal data will be sold.
It should provide better chances of it not being leaked though, as it has commercial value.
SpaceX has been working on this since 2015 and already launched two successful prototype satellites. It's called "Starlink" and production is already underway. Good luck competing with a company that builds their own satellites and has their own low cost launch platform.
https://www.teslarati.com/spacex-internet-satellite-starlink-production-in-house/
My company delivers internet through geostationary satellites. Not sure we can compete with Facebook and SpaceX. Time to dump all my stock?
A host of companies believe the better way to connect the estimated half of Earth's population that's still offline is to launch "constellations" of smaller satellites into low Earth orbit
A host of companies is wrong.
Satellite is the best way to provide coverage on the high seas, where there is a dearth of cell phone coverage.
On land, glass fiber is always best. With the amount of it that has been dumped into the sea for intercontinental links, covering the quarter of the surface that isn't ocean should be no problem. Even if in practice the last mile tends to be radio.
And the population that doesn't exist on-line yet is not half, but between two thirds and three quarters. Availability of carriers is not the big problem though. Availability of electricity is.
Also. The developed world had reached Peak Facebook, this is a way they can directly expand their influence into new territories.
Didn't their last satellite go kablooey? SpaceX Falcon 9 explosion on the launch pad during fueling destroyed Facebook's co-leased AMOS-6 Satellite Sept 1st 2016. The satellite was to provide Internet service to large parts of West, East and Southern Africa. The satellite cost approximately $200 million. Sounds like the new plan is smaller, simpler and cheaper lower orbit satellites.