Your thoughts on LEOs ? (Low Earth Orbiting Satellites)

Post by **Philip** » Sun Oct 15, 2017 6:03 pm

There has been a lot of talk in the past couple of years on "Low Earth Orbit Satellites" (LEOs). The technology is there, they'd provide fast (100Mbps?) low latency (~30ms) broadband internet connections available worldwide.
The FCC has granted a license to OneWeb to build/launch 900 satellites, and they are now ramping up production.
https://www.speedguide.net/news/fcc-app ... ccess-6433
OneWeb has a production line in France, and opening two more in a new location in Florida (Kennedy Space Center)
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/spa ... story.html

There is some competition, notably SpaceX is in the process of getting licenses from the FCC for their own fleet of 4000+ LEOs... According to the FCC there are a couple of other licenses under review as well.

Intelsat tried to merge with OneWeb earlier this year, but the deal fell through apparently. OneWeb is backed by SoftBank, and has partnered with some heavy-hitters in key industries like Airbus, Qualcomm, Virgin Group, etc. Seems like the actual service from OneWeb is on track to be available in just a couple of years.

I think given enough satellites/bandwidth/competition, that technology could have a huge global impact on the Internet as a whole, especially for end users. Just imagine having 100Mbps low latency Internet connection available to you anywhere in the world for a price comparable to your current internet connection... Granted, there is the limitation that it would need some type of antenna, but still.. It is nothing compared to the headache of digging a trench to lay cable to every single customer.

What do you guys think? I believe it's the next big thing, it can actually provide worldwide coverage at competitive prices affordable to an average consumer.

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 8:56 am

Its interesting, not sure if I would go with it, but Id love there to be more competition.

Post by **Philip** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 10:09 am

Competition in existing urban markets is part of it.. but the greatest impact would be for rural and under-served areas I suppose, and there are a lot of those where there are practical monopolies on Internet access.

Marine internet access, for example on the retail side offshore is prohibitively expensive. It costs like $3k+ in hardware plus $6/MB!! (yes, Megabyte) for satellite internet data access through Iridium. Not sure about commercial vessels/airlines, etc. but the prices when you move away from urban areas can be astronomical (some pun intended).

morbidpete · Post by **morbidpete** » Tue Oct 17, 2017 12:59 pm

Philip wrote:Competition in existing urban markets is part of it.. but the greatest impact would be for rural and under-served areas I suppose, and there are a lot of those where there are practical monopolies on Internet access.

Marine internet access, for example on the retail side offshore is prohibitively expensive. It costs like $3k+ in hardware plus $6/MB!! (yes, Megabyte) for satellite internet data access through Iridium. Not sure about commercial vessels/airlines, etc. but the prices when you move away from urban areas can be astronomical (some pun intended).

Not just that. PR is a great example. Limited communication right now due to infrastructure being destroyed. This would be perfect to keep local gov connected and communicating with the outside world.

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 3:53 pm

morbidpete wrote:Not just that. PR is a great example. .

See how Ubiquiti is helping PR rebuild? They shipped a container of AF24's 'n 11's
https://community.ubnt.com/t5/airFiber- ... -p/2104859

Leatherneck · Post by **Leatherneck** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 6:00 pm

I need 8 more years of being an Engineer in the cable industry. After that, bring it on!

Post by **Philip** » Fri Oct 20, 2017 8:07 am

Leatherneck wrote:I need 8 more years of being an Engineer in the cable industry. After that, bring it on!

I don't think cable is not going away anytime soon

loop2kil · Post by **loop2kil** » Wed Oct 25, 2017 10:52 am

I'm going to need a thicker tin foil hat.

MadDoctor · Post by **MadDoctor** » Thu Oct 26, 2017 12:05 pm

loop2kil wrote:I'm going to need a thicker tin foil hat.

If they keep send up more satellites they'll act as tin foil hat for earth.

Post by **Philip** » Fri Oct 27, 2017 10:27 am

MadDoctor wrote:If they keep send up more satellites they'll act as tin foil hat for earth.

...

The March 2017 plan calls for SpaceX to launch test satellites of the type in both 2017 and 2018, and as of May 2017, begin launching the operational constellation sats in 2019. Full build-out of the constellation is not expected to be completed until 2024, at which time there are expected to be "4,425 satellites into orbit around the Earth, operating in 83 planes, at fairly low altitudes of between 1,110 kilometers and 1,325 kilometers." By September 2017, the planned number of satellites in each constellation had not changed, but the altitude of each constellation became explicit: the larger group—7,518 sats—would operate at 340 kilometers (210 mi) altitude, while the smaller group—4,425 sats—would orbit at 1,200 kilometers (750 mi) altitude.

Post by **Philip** » Sat Feb 24, 2018 9:22 am

2 demo satellites launched, 11,923 to go (just for the SpaceX Starlink satellites, not including the 648 OneWeb satellites, or the proposed Samsung 4600 satellites, or the Telesat 120 satellites)...

https://www.speedguide.net/news/spacex- ... -into-6621

The 1,200km (720 mi) orbit is going to get really crowded in the next 5 years it seems.

TonyT · Post by **TonyT** » Sun Feb 25, 2018 8:07 am

Damn, you mean I'm going to have to dodge more crap now when I leave Earth on treks back to family get togethers?

Post by **Philip** » Sun Feb 25, 2018 9:44 am

Yeah, you may have to choose your earth escape path carefully, and you will have to beef up on the object avoidance module processing power.. On the bright side, they may provide almost enough shade to help slow down the effects of global warming in the lower latitudes

MadDoctor · Post by **MadDoctor** » Sun Feb 25, 2018 10:26 am

Philip wrote:On the bright side, they may provide almost enough shade to help slow down the effects of global warming in the lower latitudes

TonyT · Post by **TonyT** » Sun Feb 25, 2018 10:33 pm

Gives an idea of what's really up there right now, and probably does not include military and govt stuff.
http://stuffin.space/

MadDoctor · Post by **MadDoctor** » Mon Feb 26, 2018 10:59 am

TonyT wrote:Gives an idea of what's really up there right now, and probably does not include military and govt stuff.
http://stuffin.space/

Excellent!!!!!!!

Randy · Post by **Randy** » Mon Feb 26, 2018 7:53 pm

crazy on my way home from work i'm thinking about a truck camper I want t buy and how I would like to go live in the woods for a month but not having internet kills the notion and then I see this thread