SpaceX Starlink: Dream of a billionaire from the internet for all

Elon Musk was a deep visionary of modern times and his vision to colonize Mars was the main dream of humanity. While leg settings on the red planet with spacex can occur in the future, Elon has other ambitions that are very close to commercial feasibility.

We refer to Starlink internet services, which promised to provide internet connectivity to almost all corners of the planet – except North and South Poland. This is possible with a private satellite network that continues to develop which orbits the Earth – about 340 miles from the surface of the earth. The effort has its roots in SpaceX, and with $ 885.5 million from the Federal Communication Commission in the second half of 2020, Starlink is now ready for the next Internet Revolution.

Simple Starlink

Starlink or Orbital satellite constellation network has seen gradual developments since the beginning of 2015. The first batch of prototype satellites was launched into low Earth orbit in 2018 and at that time more than 1,000 of them settled in orbit. Successfully launched onboard the launch vehicle Falcon 9. The initial launch of the Kennedy Space Center – delivered 60 satellites – and took place in January 2021. It was followed by dozens of launches with the latter carried out in May 2021.

At present, this low number of low orbital satellites is almost 1,800. In February Elon officially said that Starlink services were being sent to more than 10,000 test customers and more than 70,000 have registered for this service. The focus is to acquire new customers who do not have access to high-speed Internet due to physical limitations of fiber internet. Spacex is sure to provide global service in this fall, although there are several road barriers such as regional regulations.

According to the Starlink website “this service is not limited by land infrastructure and is the only solution for internet access without interruption where it has become a challenge to bring low latency, a reliable network speed.” This summarizes Starlink as a suitable service for “areas of the world where connectivity is usually a challenge.”

Speed ​​and Internet Connectivity

For now, in the beta test phase, this service is only available in several US countries, Canadian and English parts, and other specific areas around the world. Because this is the initial phase of Starlink service operations, speed varies from 50 to 150Mbps with latency anywhere between 20 to 30 milliseconds. This will eventually improve with SpaceX launching more satellites to orbit. Musk tweeted earlier this year that services will reach 300Mbps at the end of the year.

Costs and availability

The beta program “better than” which is ongoing is accepting bookings in advance for services in certain locations. Upfront installation of hardware needed (plate that can be installed and routers) for satellite connections is $ 500. After payment of $ 99 per month provides access to high-speed internet without interruption after the test phase has identified all gaps. For now, it costs on the higher side, but if you live in an area where fiber internet connectivity is not available or very unreliable, this is the way forward in the long term.

Even if you are lucky enough in the area where services are available, pre-orders can take six months to be fulfilled. In accordance with this, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell confirmed that the service does not have a short-term plan to add more speed or price level – they want to remain simple until everything stabilizes. However, he added that the upfront costs will be classes when new customers are added in the coming years.

Challenges and disadvantages

Given that other similar companies have failed in the past, the ability to get even the dream of commercial internet is an achievement in itself. There are tons of challenges such as space debris, interference with ISS and NASA services and the visibility of the Starlink earth satellites in the dark. Since the orbit satellites are closer to the face of the earth and envisage that the number will increase exponentially, brilliant satellites can clog the view of the night sky. According to the International Astronomical Union, unforeseen consequences also include the obstacle to the protection of nocturnal wildlife.

Spacex has been difficult at work to solve the brightness of the satellites. They tested Darksat with a non-reflective coating at the beginning of 2020, then the visorsat satellite with the sun visor in June 2020. Starlink launched the satellite batch with the visor per sun visor last August to reduce the Reflective impact.

Weather conditions can affect speed and latency. First, in areas subject to snowfall, this can affect the service because the snow covers the StarLink dish, clog the line of sight. The user will have to clean the snow accumulation or install the dish in a place where the minimum snowflake land. The heavy rains and winds can also affect speeds or could result in a temporary failure.

The resolution

Spacex also considers the possibility of providing the Internet in flight. It is in talks with several airlines for free Wi-Fi service. This will give potential customers a better option than the traditional satellite Internet that the Starlink satellites are located at the low orbit of the Earth, bringing a faster Internet connection at a comparatively low cost.

At the recent Mobile World Congress, Elon Musk has agreed that Starlink is still far from positive cash flow. This could take an investment of $ 20 billion to run it. Elon predicts that at least one third of this amount (about 5 to 10 billion dollars) will have to be spent before being profitable.

The current problem for ELON and its team consists of collecting this colossal amount with funding or more customers to use the service. This is feasible (at least for ELON, given the visionary it is) but a very difficult task as StarLink is still not fully stabilized for reliability and global reach. There is a probability, the whole project goes bankrupt in the years to come if things go south.

In parallel, it is planned to bring the 1.5 StarLink satellite version that uses laser-based links to significantly improve connectivity. That said, this system is a more expensive investment and can take things to another level, if everything happens as planned.