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Satellite Internet Is Driving the Global Space Economy (infoq.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the sky-net dept.

InfoQ got some interesting insights from their interview with Christophe de Hauwer, the chief strategy and development officer at the communications satellite company SES: According to Morgan Stanly, the global space economy is predicted to grow from $350 billion in revenues today to more than $1.1 trillion by 2040. This impressive growth is driven by an exploding demand for connectivity... On one hand, satellite will be key to satisfy consumers' demand for always-on, high-performance connectivity. On the other hand, it will play an essential role in providing connectivity to populations in underserved and unserved areas...

[A]irlines are facing growing demands for inflight connectivity: market studies have shown that 63% of travelers think more flights should offer Wi-Fi, and 48% think Wi-Fi in the air should be as fast as it is on the ground. We are shaping and scaling our satellite fleet in order to deliver both the performance and economics needed to take these services mainstream. Whether a plane is travelling along densely populated routes or vast areas of deserts, we want to have them covered with the right kind of connectivity, always on, everywhere.
He also points out that SpaceX's re-usable rockets are just one of the ways space technology is making telecommunications cheaper.

"Electric propulsion means satellites can achieve a 40-50% reduction in their mass; high-throughput spot beams deliver a significantly higher amount of bandwidth than traditional satellites and can reduce cost per bit; fully new digitized payloads enable increased efficiency, full flexibility in global coverage and further optimization of spectrum use."

29 comments

  1. But will they pay by alvinrod · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How much are the 48% who want this fast WiFi actually willing to pay for it though. I suspect that because the answer is something not much more than they pay for the ground-based services, we will not see these services become rapidly available anytime soon.

    Also, if satellite internet is the least expensive option for anything that is anything short of the most remote among remote places, I worry more about what is making more traditional infrastructure impossible there more than anything else.

    1. Re:But will they pay by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      How much are the 48% who want this fast WiFi actually willing to pay for it though.

      The first secret to getting the poll results you want is knowing how to phrase the question.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    2. Re: But will they pay by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      I get that this guy has an interest in making his company look good, but the economy ultimately cares how people actually behave, not what they claim they want or what they will do. Just like when everyone claims they want high quality objective news. Yet almost no one is willing to pay what it costs for it or would much rather consume whatever best fits their own preconceived notions if given a choice. So we get polarizing clickbait.

    3. Re:But will they pay by Ranbot · · Score: 1

      Also, if satellite internet is the least expensive option for anything that is anything short of the most remote among remote places, I worry more about what is making more traditional infrastructure impossible there more than anything else.

      Folks who live in urban areas seriously underestimate the challenges of building rural infrastructure. There are still many rural areas of the US that don't have cable TV/internet yet, much less fiber. On rural roads [and there are lots of them] utilities are delivered on poles, which is costly to maintain fiber lines; and the upfront costs of burying them can be prohibitive. There just aren't enough people on the line to make the economics of installation and long-term maintenance of fiber work out [unless subsidized by gov't or urban subscribers, but that's unlikely]. My parents live in a rural area and just got cable internet about 4 years ago; and before that they subscribed to a local WiFi-based ISP that made browsing the web tolerable, but a far cry from broadband. There are people near my parents who are still accessing the internet by dial-up, Direct TV satellite, or their cell phone if they live near a tower. FWIW, my parents are within a ~40 minute commute to the largest city in the state, so it's not that rural, relatively speaking. It's just really expensive to build/maintain this infrastructure. The most cost-effective way to bridge the last mile gap to rural areas will be with wireless technology, which many rural folk are already doing.

      And that ^^ is just the US... In developing regions like Africa, Central and South America, island nations, etc. the challenges of physical internet infrastructure are multiplied by poor electric grids, lack of equipment, political instability, corruption, etc. There are still billions of potential customers in the world without access to a physical line that a satellite-based service could reach.

    4. Re: But will they pay by Ranbot · · Score: 1

      I get that this guy has an interest in making his company look good, but the economy ultimately cares how people actually behave, not what they claim they want or what they will do. Just like when everyone claims they want [something].... Yet almost no one is willing to pay what it costs for [something]....

      Agreed... behavioral economics... it's an interesting subject...

      However, high quality in-flight WiFi may get a big boost from business travelers. The individual's cost-benefit analysis changes dramatically when someone else is paying. Businesses may not mind paying a premium to keep an employee productive and "on the clock" during flights.

  2. the meaning of "fully new digitized payloads"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does "fully new digitized payloads" leverage meta synergy to spur paradigm shifting organic growth?

    but what does it mean?!?!?!

    1. Re:the meaning of "fully new digitized payloads"? by TheRealQuestor · · Score: 1

      Marketer speak for taking current tech and putting into space.

    2. Re:the meaning of "fully new digitized payloads"? by superxstudios · · Score: 1

      Yeah that is awkward phrasing, I think they are referring to older communications satellites being mostly analog repeaters, limiting their signal processing capabilities, as opposed to new satellites using fully digital signal formats.

  3. consider the source.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    this INVESTMENT BANK no-doubt has a financial interest in space industry that isn't doing as well as they'd like it to, so they make some nonsense to try to prop-up share prices and attract investors.

    get lost, morgan. and you too, stanley. you go too, 'infoq'.

  4. 5G, Google Blinps, Community Fiber by bobstreo · · Score: 2

    I'm sure "remote" locations could benefit from decent satellite Internet service.

    Getting quotes of $3K to run a mile of copper for local cable isn't what anyone wants to hear.

    Latency, upload speeds and really low bandwidth caps during primetime are all pretty much deal killers with current satellite services.

    Not to mention the whole rain/clouds/snow problems that satellite isn't solving anytime soon. I've lost power 10X more times than just cable in the last year.

    1. Re:5G, Google Blinps, Community Fiber by Type44Q · · Score: 2

      Getting quotes of $3K to run a mile of copper for local cable isn't what anyone wants to hear.

      A mere $0.57 per foot? While any fool can figure out that you'e off by at least two orders of magnitude, a one-time cost of three grand to avoid having to bounce your signal all the way out to geosync... would pay for itself within what, five years??

  5. Satellite Internet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Satellite Internet has a long history of over promise and under performance. It is touted to solve under developed areas Internet availability problems but is the most expensive Internet solution. A recent article about low earth orbit satellite Internet said one company would have to launch over 5,000 satellites to provide service. There are currently between 1,400 and 1,500 satellites that are operating. It is hard to believe that many satellites could be launched let alone be launched at a price that would make service cost competitive.

    1. Re: Satellite Internet? by c6gunner · · Score: 2

      Iirc SpaceX plans to launch 10,000+. Your inability to imagine it doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.

    2. Re:Satellite Internet? by White+Yeti · · Score: 1

      Constellations from SpaceX (Starlink), OneWeb, O3b, Facebook (Athena), and Samsung are well into the planning phases and some have already launched prototypes to test their systems. SES/O3b, perhaps the smallest, is operational on a small scale.

      These large-scale launches of medium-sized satellites (100-500 kg) don't fit into the old regulatory scheme of 1 or 2 payloads per launch vehicle per year. Post-mission disposal reliability of 90% still leaves the possibility of hundreds of dead satellites cluttering operational orbits. The world's space agencies (which drive policy but typically are not regulatory) are trying to get a grasp of the issues on the horizon.

  6. Freedom of Speech by Bolkar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Having ability to connect internet, regardless of your geographical location and country will also allow Billions of suppressed people to have free internet access that is not censored by their despot/fascist/communist/dictatorial governments. I believe this is going to be the biggest social positive of these new commercial satellite internet services.

    1. Re:Freedom of Speech by Kjella · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Having ability to connect internet, regardless of your geographical location and country will also allow Billions of suppressed people to have free internet access that is not censored by their despot/fascist/communist/dictatorial governments. I believe this is going to be the biggest social positive of these new commercial satellite internet services.

      If they want to collect payment they'll probably have to follow local law. Also you must get uplink equipment to the people. And if it gets banned due to non-compliance you can just start rounding up everyone with an antenna. Technically everything you just said is possible today with the old satellites in GEO, it's just very uncommon in practice. I think the best scenario is if there is an official censored service so you can deploy the hardware legally, but that it's easy to get a second account from an uncensored country.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  7. Space economy? by aglider · · Score: 1

    So it's space economy because we put something in the space?

    I thought it was when we'll put someone in the space.

    --
    Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
  8. Re: everything made by man fails by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are you the timecube guy?

  9. Expensive way for internet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think this is why Google had their balloons and Facebook was trying drones. They wanted a cheaper way to get internet to remote areas. However, both of those ideals have to deal with many issues here on Earth. Satellite phones have also taken off for the same reason. At this point Satellites seem a much better solution for remote coverage then anything else right now.

  10. We'll see by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Personally, I smell pie in the sky. Greed, either for money or power or influence, distorts people's vision. I am skeptical.

  11. But will they roll dice? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I get that this guy has an interest in making his company look good, but the economy ultimately cares how people actually behave, not what they claim they want or what they will do.

    That's what game theory is about. Especially as it relates to economics.

    https://www.humblebundle.com/books/puzzlecraft-books?hmb_source=navbar&hmb_medium=product_tile&hmb_campaign=tile_index_4

  12. Makes me think of Luke Wilson, lol... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject & MIDDLEMEN & "the internet was created for a better way for guys to jerk off", lol - yea, maybe but I think of it the BEST library so we share ideas.

    I TRY make it better per inspiration from Cliff Stoll of "the Cuckoo's Egg" who spoke to me here on /. as I told him his work inspires others like me in his telling me "It's YOUR TURN now" http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

    APK

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  13. don't think about geostationary satellites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh the ignorance and paucity of imagination here...

    Yeah latency stinks to geostationary satellites. But it's acceptable to low and mid orbit satellites.

    Go look at Iridium Next's data capabilities. That's just the beginning. Several companies have the idea to fly swarms of small cheap LEO sats.

    Interesting times!!

  14. Electric propulsion by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    Electric propulsion means satellites can achieve a 40-50% reduction in their mass

    How do they generate thrust from electricity in space? That the point of the EmDrive, but that is only a very experimental setup for now.

    1. Re:Electric propulsion by SpaceDave · · Score: 1

      In most cases they expel propellant to generate thrust in the same way that a chemical rocket does, but electrical systems use different propellants and different methods to do the expelling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    2. Re:Electric propulsion by Agripa · · Score: 1

      Electric propulsion means satellites can achieve a 40-50% reduction in their mass

      How do they generate thrust from electricity in space? That the point of the EmDrive, but that is only a very experimental setup for now.

      If in orbit, then the Lorenz force can be used to push against the Earth's magnetic field.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...