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Satellite Internet Is Driving the Global Space Economy (infoq.com)
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."
[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."
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.
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.
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.
Iirc SpaceX plans to launch 10,000+. Your inability to imagine it doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.