SpaceX is starting to deploy a global satellite Internet

Starlink Project

_For the first time about plans to organize Internet coverage of the entire planet, SpaceX announced in 2015. The project was named Starlink.

According to the original plans, the Americans had to develop microsatellites weighing 100 to 500 kilograms. On board each satellite was planned to place network equipment that allows not only to send signals to the Earth and receive responses, but also to transfer data from the satellite to the satellite.

To "communicate" with the Earth, the satellites had to receive transmitters with phased array antennas with the technology of directional diagram formation, due to which the signal power and data rate could be increased for the regions of the planet where the network is most actively used or the population density is high. In turn, to transmit data to each other, SpaceX satellites would be able to use laser communication with a radiation frequency of more than ten terahertz.

Technical details on the operation of antennas and the optical system SpaceX provided the US Federal Communications Commission in the application for the allocation of operating frequencies for satellite Internet. At the same time, the company managed to obtain a ban on the public distribution of these details - the existence of the application and its approximate content is known, details are not.

Initially, an American company, founded by entrepreneur Ilon Mask, planned to launch 4,425 satellites with communication equipment operating in the Ku- and Ka- bands (from 12 to 18 gigahertz and from 26.5 to 40 gigahertz respectively) to a low earth orbit . These devices were planned to be placed in 83 orbital planes at altitudes from 1110 to 1325 kilometers. This is the location of the devices, according to the company, would overcome the main disadvantage of satellite internet - large delays in the passage of the signal.

Today, there are several providers around the world that provide Internet access through satellite communications. To do this, the subscriber only needs to purchase a transceiver (a device that receives and transmits a satellite signal and converts it to a standard network signal) and a satellite dish. This equipment allows receiving a signal from one or more satellites placed in a geostationary orbit at an altitude of about 36 thousand kilometers.

Such a high placement of satellites allows to cover practically the whole hemisphere with the help of only one device (at the same time, the quality of the signal is much lower towards the poles due to the fact that radio waves have to travel a great distance through the atmosphere). And although the radio signal propagates at the speed of light, its travel from the satellite to Earth and back leads to delays, which are aggravated by interference. As a result, the delay can be from hundreds of milliseconds to several seconds - you can forget about Skype or online games .

_In 2017 it became known that SpaceX decided to organize a grouping of 11943 satellites. In addition to the initial 4425 vehicles, the group is planning to include 7518 satellites in lower orbits - from 335 to 346 kilometers.

All devices will be built into a peer-to-peer network (each satellite in the network will be an independent unit, simultaneously performing the functions of both the client, that is, the network participant, and the server managing its segments).

_Engineers of the company believe that such a solution will allow to expand communication channels and increase access speed in densely populated areas - substantially lower satellites placement will allow reducing the signal delay to 25 milliseconds.

For comparison, in cellular networks of the standard 4G, the delay is on average seven to eight milliseconds, but it can vary significantly depending on the load on the network and the distance from the cell towers.

What speed

Some questions are caused by the technical side of the global Internet. Modern communication systems used on telecommunication satellites in geostationary orbits can simultaneously serve an average of 1200 connections. This means that no more than 1200 terminals can connect to one such satellite at a time from the Earth, each of which, in turn, can in turn be connected to several hundred computers (although in this case the width of the communication channel with the terminal will be divided between all simultaneously connected computers - 40 megabits per second, distributed between hundreds of machines, look paler).

Assuming that SpaceX satellites will support as many connections as possible, the entire group of 11943 satellites will be able to serve no more than 14.3 million terrestrial terminals. In fact, they will be less because of the movement of satellites relative to the earth's surface and switching terminals between devices.

The current plans of the American company assume the possibility of connecting each terrestrial terminal to the network at a speed of up to one gigabit per second. This is a fairly wide channel, within which relatively few tens of computers can coexist relatively comfortably. If you consider that in Europe and the US broadband Internet access is considered to be connected at a speed of more than 10-15 megabits per second, in fact, thanks to one terminal, high-speed connection to the network will be able to receive small settlements.

For comparison, for 76 countries in the world of Ookla Speedtest speed measurement service, the average connection speed in 2017 increased by 30 percent - to 20.28 megabits per second. At the same time, the average speed of Internet access for all countries in the world is about seven megabits per second. In assessing these data, it should be noted that there are many developing countries in Africa and Asia, where the Internet is practically nonexistent.

Many media initially wrote that the satellite group SpaceX will allow to organize Internet access via Wi-Fi around the world, but this is not so. Modern communication systems using Wi-Fi technology of different standards, broadcast at 2.4 and 5 gigahertz. However, the signal transmitted at these frequencies from space to Earth or sent from Earth to space can not overcome the ionized layers of the atmosphere, which allows the passage of radio signals in a relatively narrow frequency range.

At what price

As already mentioned above, to gain access to the Internet through SpaceX satellites, it will be necessary to buy a transceiver, a phased antenna and a terminal for controlling it. It is assumed that with the help of the terminal the antenna will support the direction to the nearest satellite, and if the quality of communication with it worsens, switch to the next one.

_ How much this equipment will cost is still unknown. Modern transceivers with antennas for satellite Internet cost an average of 300 to 800 dollars.

The economic model of worldwide access to the network, developed by SpaceX, is not yet clear. Today, satellite Internet providers receive the main revenue from a subscription fee that can range from five dollars a month for one gigabyte of traffic (at a forward channel rate of up to 40 megabits per second and reverse - up to 12 megabits per second) to $ 150-200 per month for 200 gigabytes of traffic. At the same time, for corporate clients, prices can increase up to two times. Providers that would provide unlimited access, literally units, and the cost of such services is usually determined individually. However, large companies working in regions where there is no other connection in principle, use satellite Internet.

For comparison, conventional cable or cellular providers have shifted the economic model toward revenue from in-built advertising, additional services, including technical support, line maintenance, and equipment rental and sales.

If SpaceX's initial approval of cheap broadband access is true, then the company is likely to receive the main profit from advertising, leasing and selling equipment (terminals with satellite-tuned antennas can not be cheap), and possibly also from services, including installation and configuration of equipment. In addition, SpaceX has already announced that the company plans to receive revenue from the rent of its Internet satellites - on them, in addition to the company's own equipment, equipment of third-party research organizations may be placed for a certain amount.

In general, thanks to the global satellite Internet, SpaceX intends to receive funding for the development, testing and production of reusable transport spacecraft that will be used to transport people and cargo to Mars.

What about the law

However, in addition to purely technical problems, SpaceX may face legislative limitations in certain countries. Even in the US, the status of the Starlink program has not yet been determined.

_ SpaceX managed to obtain permission from the Federal Communications Commission to launch and test two telecommunications satellites, but the formation of a group of nearly 12,000 units is still being studied, not only by "signalers" but also by military personnel.

It is assumed that the first universal access to the Internet will be deployed in the US, then in Canada, Europe, and then in the rest of the world. In this case, the authorities of European, Asian or African countries may not issue permission to use frequencies. In this case, either SpaceX will have to turn off the broadcasting of satellites to the territory of countries that did not issue a permit (which is unlikely), or the company will be prohibited from supplying its satellite terminals to these states.

By the way, cheap satellite Internet, if it is really cheap, can cause interest of antimonopoly services, especially if the cost of access to the network is significantly lower than that of other providers. SpaceX plans to complete the formation of the satellite grouping by the mid-2020s. By this time, its number will exceed the total number of satellites in Earth's orbits today. At the same time, if the American company has competitors, its grouping is likely, most likely, to be the largest.

This can also serve as a reason for the interest of antimonopoly services, whose actions can be very diverse: from the appointment of a multimillion or even a multibillion-dollar fine to the banning of the company's activities in a particular country. The European antimonopoly services are particularly active, they have already successfully fined Microsoft, Amazon, and Google (invested one billion dollars in the Starlink project), and many other smaller companies.

Who else

_ In addition to SpaceX, the creation of a group of Internet satellites plans to do Korean company Samsung.

In 2015, it announced its intention to bring to a near-earth orbit at an altitude of 1.4 thousand kilometers of 4.6 thousand satellites. This grouping, as the Koreans claimed, could provide an aggregate world throughput of one zigabyte (1,021 bytes) per month. For comparison, according to Cisco, the global volume of Internet traffic (through cable, cellular networks and satellites) per year in 2019 will be about two zittabytes.

Preliminary work on the project Samsung began soon after the announcement of it, but there was no news about the creation of the Korean satellite Internet since that time . Three years ago, announcing its plans, the Korean company announced that the formation of its satellite group would be completed by 2028.

Meanwhile, the British consortium OneWeb, which is supported by American entrepreneur and founder of the Virgin Group corporation Richard Branson, and also the company for the development of wireless communication systems Qualcomm, is engaged in the development of its own satellite Internet. OneWeb plans to place in orbit in the altitude of 1.2 thousand kilometers 648 telecommunications satellites, which will provide Internet coverage of most of the Earth's surface.

In 2017, the company filed with the US Federal Communications Commission an application for the deployment in the low Earth orbit of additional 1972 satellites. The first spacecraft were to be launched in late 2017, but this did not happen. Initially, the plan of the consortium envisaged the completion of the constellation of the satellites until the end of 2019. By the way, in mid-February 2018 it became known that the State Commission for Radio Frequencies of Russia refused to allocate frequencies for OneWeb.

The Russian agency said that the frequencies necessary for the operation of the satellite Internet OneWeb in Russia overlap with the frequencies at which the Russian Express-RV system created by the company Cosmic Communications will be broadcasting. "Express-RV" will include four satellites in a highly elliptical orbit, which will provide communications to the Arctic.

The development of the Arctic for the Russian authorities is a priority. Firstly, because of global warming and melting of ice in the Arctic, regular navigation has become possible, and through this region passes the Northern Sea Corridor - the shortest sea route from Europe to Asia. Secondly, over the Arctic is Cross-polar aviation bridge - the shortest air route between North America and Asia. It is on this path in the event of a nuclear conflict that ballistic missiles and bombers will fly. As a result, the interests of many agencies, including the Ministry of Defense of Russia, converge in the Arctic, which will need to provide communication and surveillance of ships.

_In general, the creation of groups of telecommunications satellites will significantly increase the global penetration of the Internet.

The draft of the satellite Internet, for example, may be interested in the UK authorities who intend to give all citizens of the country an inalienable right to the Internet and by 2020 to provide everyone with broadband access to the network, even if they live in hard-to-reach areas. Nevertheless, low Earth orbits are already quite heavily littered today, and as the hundreds and thousands of Internet satellites SpaceX, OneWeb, Samsung and anyone else gets littered, they will only grow bigger. As it is planned to solve this problem, none of the future providers of the global satellite Internet has yet told. Apparently because it's a very distant future.