The demand for fast and reliable internet connection is increasing day by day. Telecommunication companies are trying to extend coverage and provide for about four billion people who have to cope with bad connections. While there have been some noticeable changes, it is becoming quite clear that traditional methods of providing internet connection will not suffice. It is time to welcome a new way, the space way.
There have been several explorations into space for decades so how about we finally put it to some really good use. Though this concept is not new, it is currently available to only a few users compared to the current internet access demands. Simply put, space-based internet services make use of satellites in orbit to send and receive data around the globe.
To provide space-based internet satellites have to be launched into orbit. From there, signals are transmitted to provide internet access. Currently, most satellites that have been launched into orbit are positioned in the geostationary orbit. These satellites move just as fast as the Earth so to humans, they appear to be stationary.
The positioning of the satellites into space is quite advantageous as it means that just a few of these satellites can serve very large areas of the Earth. It begs the question of why the issue of internet access has not been solved.
Well, the positions that these satellites are placed come with a massive drawback. The geostationary orbit is at a distance of 35,786km from the surface of the earth. As you can probably discern, this is a very far distance. The remoteness of the orbit affects the transmission of data in real-time due to a time lag which is known as latency.
With space-based internet, provision signals are transmitted directly from a user’s phone to a satellite in orbit. The requests made by the user are directed towards data centers on earth by whichever satellite received the signal. The response to be received by the user journeys back in the opposite direction. This process would have suffered close to 600 milliseconds of latency. A satellite that is placed at a much lower position would only have 20-30 milliseconds of latency.
Lowering the satellites seems like an easy way out of the current pickle but it also gives another issue. Moving the satellites closer to the earth would mean that they would cover much less distance meaning they would serve a much smaller number of people. To make lower satellites work then thousands of satellites would have to be launched into space. Another reason why a lot of satellites would be needed is the speed at which satellites at low orbits have to travel to effectively counter the force of gravity. With the crazy amount of speed, the satellites would alone be available at a particular point for a few minutes.
Over the years, a few companies have gotten involved in the space Internet business. The largest of them being SpaceX, which is founded by Elon Musk.
SpaceX internet business is referred to as Starlink. Starlink provides high-speed, low latency broadband internet access. It is spread across wide and very ideal for rural areas or communities.
Starlink improves its satellites by installing more round stations, improving networking software, data speed, and latency. This ultimately improves their uptime. Currently, the speed from SpaceX moves from 50mb/s to 150mb/s.
SpaceX plans to launch a total of 42,000 (60 satellites at a time) satellites into space to support their internet service. The company currently has permission to launch 12000 which is not even up to a third of its target number. The company will first offer its services in the United States and Canada before gradually expanding to serve the entire globe.
Space-based internet is quite a breakthrough but unlike any other thing, it has disadvantages that need to be worked on before its full potential can be harnessed. Here are some of the most pressing ones.
Space Junk
An increase in the number of companies investing in space-based internet would allow more and more satellites to be launched. The orbits are pretty large but with time they would get crowded. According to NASA(National Aeronautics and space administration), this would lead to dangerous collisions between satellites. Old or weak satellites explode or deorbit, creating fragments fof smaller wastes that have the capacity to constitute nuisance in space, including collision with space station.
Technical Setbacks
Problems also exist about deploying the technology itself. One highly important one is how satellites would not always be in their current position. Another problem is how to build and deploy so many satellites at the same time.
Increased Pollution: because a lot of light emission is involved in the use of space-based internet the amount of light pollution will increase directly about the number of satellites launched successfully into space.
While space-based internet is much better off than its counterparts it is still plagued by similar issues albeit to a much lesser degree. Signal reflection can be affected by different things such as weather, a faulty satellite, and many more issues.
Conclusion
The Internet exponentially increases our potential as people and individuals. It is possible to work better, learn faster and develop well on good internet, and demand for reliable internet access will only continue to increase.
Space Internet makes democratizing high-speed internet easier because there wouldn't be a cluster of expensive cell towers in cities nor will there be any existing fiber-based monopolies.
Space-based Internet would be out of reach of terrorizing and corrupt governments, who would occasionally shut down internet access to perpetrate terror.
Space-based Internet would be available for remote areas, connecting them to other communities, which would provide better economic benefit to everyone who exists in that locality. While space-based internet might come with its own set of problems it is the future-ready and forward-facing way of providing internet services.
Thank you all for reading.
