Satellite Internet Is Driving the Global Space Economy (infoq.com) 29
InfoQ got some interesting insights from their interview with Christophe de Hauwer, the chief strategy and development officer at the communications satellite company SES:
According to Morgan Stanly, the global space economy is predicted to grow from $350 billion in revenues today to more than $1.1 trillion by 2040. This impressive growth is driven by an exploding demand for connectivity... On one hand, satellite will be key to satisfy consumers' demand for always-on, high-performance connectivity. On the other hand, it will play an essential role in providing connectivity to populations in underserved and unserved areas...
[A]irlines are facing growing demands for inflight connectivity: market studies have shown that 63% of travelers think more flights should offer Wi-Fi, and 48% think Wi-Fi in the air should be as fast as it is on the ground. We are shaping and scaling our satellite fleet in order to deliver both the performance and economics needed to take these services mainstream. Whether a plane is travelling along densely populated routes or vast areas of deserts, we want to have them covered with the right kind of connectivity, always on, everywhere.
He also points out that SpaceX's re-usable rockets are just one of the ways space technology is making telecommunications cheaper.
"Electric propulsion means satellites can achieve a 40-50% reduction in their mass; high-throughput spot beams deliver a significantly higher amount of bandwidth than traditional satellites and can reduce cost per bit; fully new digitized payloads enable increased efficiency, full flexibility in global coverage and further optimization of spectrum use."
[A]irlines are facing growing demands for inflight connectivity: market studies have shown that 63% of travelers think more flights should offer Wi-Fi, and 48% think Wi-Fi in the air should be as fast as it is on the ground. We are shaping and scaling our satellite fleet in order to deliver both the performance and economics needed to take these services mainstream. Whether a plane is travelling along densely populated routes or vast areas of deserts, we want to have them covered with the right kind of connectivity, always on, everywhere.
He also points out that SpaceX's re-usable rockets are just one of the ways space technology is making telecommunications cheaper.
"Electric propulsion means satellites can achieve a 40-50% reduction in their mass; high-throughput spot beams deliver a significantly higher amount of bandwidth than traditional satellites and can reduce cost per bit; fully new digitized payloads enable increased efficiency, full flexibility in global coverage and further optimization of spectrum use."
But will they pay (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, if satellite internet is the least expensive option for anything that is anything short of the most remote among remote places, I worry more about what is making more traditional infrastructure impossible there more than anything else.
Re:But will they pay (Score:5, Insightful)
How much are the 48% who want this fast WiFi actually willing to pay for it though.
The first secret to getting the poll results you want is knowing how to phrase the question.
Re: But will they pay (Score:2)
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I get that this guy has an interest in making his company look good, but the economy ultimately cares how people actually behave, not what they claim they want or what they will do. Just like when everyone claims they want [something].... Yet almost no one is willing to pay what it costs for [something]....
Agreed... behavioral economics... it's an interesting subject...
However, high quality in-flight WiFi may get a big boost from business travelers. The individual's cost-benefit analysis changes dramatically when someone else is paying. Businesses may not mind paying a premium to keep an employee productive and "on the clock" during flights.
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Also, if satellite internet is the least expensive option for anything that is anything short of the most remote among remote places, I worry more about what is making more traditional infrastructure impossible there more than anything else.
Folks who live in urban areas seriously underestimate the challenges of building rural infrastructure. There are still many rural areas of the US that don't have cable TV/internet yet, much less fiber. On rural roads [and there are lots of them] utilities are delivered on poles, which is costly to maintain fiber lines; and the upfront costs of burying them can be prohibitive. There just aren't enough people on the line to make the economics of installation and long-term maintenance of fiber work out [unless
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Yeah that is awkward phrasing, I think they are referring to older communications satellites being mostly analog repeaters, limiting their signal processing capabilities, as opposed to new satellites using fully digital signal formats.
5G, Google Blinps, Community Fiber (Score:3)
I'm sure "remote" locations could benefit from decent satellite Internet service.
Getting quotes of $3K to run a mile of copper for local cable isn't what anyone wants to hear.
Latency, upload speeds and really low bandwidth caps during primetime are all pretty much deal killers with current satellite services.
Not to mention the whole rain/clouds/snow problems that satellite isn't solving anytime soon. I've lost power 10X more times than just cable in the last year.
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Getting quotes of $3K to run a mile of copper for local cable isn't what anyone wants to hear.
A mere $0.57 per foot? While any fool can figure out that you'e off by at least two orders of magnitude, a one-time cost of three grand to avoid having to bounce your signal all the way out to geosync... would pay for itself within what, five years??
Re: Satellite Internet? (Score:3)
Iirc SpaceX plans to launch 10,000+. Your inability to imagine it doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.
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These large-scale launches of medium-sized satellites (100-500 kg) don't fit into the old regulatory scheme of 1 or 2 payloads per launch vehicle per year. Post-mission disposal reliability of 90% still leaves the possibility of hundreds of dead satellites clutt
Freedom of Speech (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Freedom of Speech (Score:5, Interesting)
Having ability to connect internet, regardless of your geographical location and country will also allow Billions of suppressed people to have free internet access that is not censored by their despot/fascist/communist/dictatorial governments. I believe this is going to be the biggest social positive of these new commercial satellite internet services.
If they want to collect payment they'll probably have to follow local law. Also you must get uplink equipment to the people. And if it gets banned due to non-compliance you can just start rounding up everyone with an antenna. Technically everything you just said is possible today with the old satellites in GEO, it's just very uncommon in practice. I think the best scenario is if there is an official censored service so you can deploy the hardware legally, but that it's easy to get a second account from an uncensored country.
Space economy? (Score:2)
So it's space economy because we put something in the space?
I thought it was when we'll put someone in the space.
Electric propulsion (Score:2)
Electric propulsion means satellites can achieve a 40-50% reduction in their mass
How do they generate thrust from electricity in space? That the point of the EmDrive, but that is only a very experimental setup for now.
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In most cases they expel propellant to generate thrust in the same way that a chemical rocket does, but electrical systems use different propellants and different methods to do the expelling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
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Electric propulsion means satellites can achieve a 40-50% reduction in their mass
How do they generate thrust from electricity in space? That the point of the EmDrive, but that is only a very experimental setup for now.
If in orbit, then the Lorenz force can be used to push against the Earth's magnetic field.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]