I can see one major problem already. We are on satellite now and heavy rain or snow causes service to drop out. Besides being expensive, that’s why I did not sign up for internet connection too.
That’s one of the many reasons why you want low Earth satellites.
How does that help, unless they’re _really_ low (below the clouds!)?
Higher power transmission….
Fiber optic seems superior, with one enormous caveat; where it exists. Even in the US, there are huge areas where fiber optic isn’t, and won’t, be available. I happen to live in such an area – rural areas also, by and large, don’t get DSL, due to distance limitations. Result? I’m paying $50 a month for a connection that gets, at best, around 500K downlink, 78k up. (and often a lot less, plus the bonus of frequent outages!). So, do I see myself as a potential customer for sat-based internet? Heck yes.
As Musk said, you get faster propagation rates in space, and you can do significantly less hops.
I’m considering going with current sat-based internet, with all its flaws (and long lag times). It’s metered, but heck, I’m limited to 5 gig a month max now, and never get near it. (and I’ve yet to see a sat based system that low – the lowest I’ve seen is a 10 gig limit). I’m thinking of going with exede, as it’s two-way (does not need a phone line). One huge problem; their satellite is at 115.1 W, and the bearing to that from me has a mountain in the way – high enough to block my view of GEO. Ugh. I’m hoping they put up another bird soon; anything in GEO east of 110 W and I have direct line of sight.
But, Musk’s concept isn’t GEO, and I have an unobstructed view of the sky (due to being on the side of a mountain) in every direction but southwest. The only problem there is it’ll be years before it’s available, and I need it yesterday. 🙂
As for price… if Musk’s system’s speed is at least that of what I call slow, old, cable, about 2mbps, I’d be delighted. For that, I’d go up to twice what I’m paying now, and be happy about it.
I suspect the replacement rate will be much higher than they expect.
I think it’ll be high. I’m not sure if it’s from SpaceX or elsewhere, but I recall hearing of a 5 year life expectancy. If that’s the case, you’d need to loft 805 birds a year just to maintain the constellation. Even if the average life is a decade, that’s over 400 a year.
I’ve been hearing that they’ll be in the 250 to 500 kg range in mass, though I suspect that’s going to increase a bit. That’s a lot of upmass, and launching the initial constellation is one hell of a lot of upmass.
IF, and it’s a big freaking if, SpaceX Seattle (or whatever the company will be called) had access, in a few years, to a low-cost-per-pound reusable heavy lifter of some sort (like the Falcon Heavy and the BFR SpaceX Hawthorne coincidentally happen to be working on), and no one else did, they’d have one hell of a competitive advantage for their satellite system. 😉
Name proposal: Outernet.
Ed, the Browncoats will likely want to call it the Cortex.
It sure is nice to have internet connectivity on the move. We had 3G/4G data all the way across Australia on our recent trip. Nice to get weather updates, observations, weather radar feeds etc on our Ipad minis. It does help to be between 4500 and 9500 feet.
I can see one major problem already. We are on satellite now and heavy rain or snow causes service to drop out. Besides being expensive, that’s why I did not sign up for internet connection too.
That’s one of the many reasons why you want low Earth satellites.
How does that help, unless they’re _really_ low (below the clouds!)?
Higher power transmission….
Fiber optic seems superior, with one enormous caveat; where it exists. Even in the US, there are huge areas where fiber optic isn’t, and won’t, be available. I happen to live in such an area – rural areas also, by and large, don’t get DSL, due to distance limitations. Result? I’m paying $50 a month for a connection that gets, at best, around 500K downlink, 78k up. (and often a lot less, plus the bonus of frequent outages!). So, do I see myself as a potential customer for sat-based internet? Heck yes.
As Musk said, you get faster propagation rates in space, and you can do significantly less hops.
I’m considering going with current sat-based internet, with all its flaws (and long lag times). It’s metered, but heck, I’m limited to 5 gig a month max now, and never get near it. (and I’ve yet to see a sat based system that low – the lowest I’ve seen is a 10 gig limit). I’m thinking of going with exede, as it’s two-way (does not need a phone line). One huge problem; their satellite is at 115.1 W, and the bearing to that from me has a mountain in the way – high enough to block my view of GEO. Ugh. I’m hoping they put up another bird soon; anything in GEO east of 110 W and I have direct line of sight.
But, Musk’s concept isn’t GEO, and I have an unobstructed view of the sky (due to being on the side of a mountain) in every direction but southwest. The only problem there is it’ll be years before it’s available, and I need it yesterday. 🙂
As for price… if Musk’s system’s speed is at least that of what I call slow, old, cable, about 2mbps, I’d be delighted. For that, I’d go up to twice what I’m paying now, and be happy about it.
I suspect the replacement rate will be much higher than they expect.
I think it’ll be high. I’m not sure if it’s from SpaceX or elsewhere, but I recall hearing of a 5 year life expectancy. If that’s the case, you’d need to loft 805 birds a year just to maintain the constellation. Even if the average life is a decade, that’s over 400 a year.
I’ve been hearing that they’ll be in the 250 to 500 kg range in mass, though I suspect that’s going to increase a bit. That’s a lot of upmass, and launching the initial constellation is one hell of a lot of upmass.
IF, and it’s a big freaking if, SpaceX Seattle (or whatever the company will be called) had access, in a few years, to a low-cost-per-pound reusable heavy lifter of some sort (like the Falcon Heavy and the BFR SpaceX Hawthorne coincidentally happen to be working on), and no one else did, they’d have one hell of a competitive advantage for their satellite system. 😉
Name proposal: Outernet.
Ed, the Browncoats will likely want to call it the Cortex.
It sure is nice to have internet connectivity on the move. We had 3G/4G data all the way across Australia on our recent trip. Nice to get weather updates, observations, weather radar feeds etc on our Ipad minis. It does help to be between 4500 and 9500 feet.