Starlink Could 'Redefine' The Internet, Said Elon Musk

SpaceX is gearing up for another historical mission. Known only as ‘Starlink,’ the company’s ambition is to provide high-speed, low-latency Internet access worldwide.

Redefinition Of The Internet

The company is preparing to launch sixty test satellites to orbit to help build the massive constellation that would turn the seemingly insane idea into reality. The launch date was set for the 15th ò May, although recent developments told that the launch had been postponed to Thursday, 10:30 P.M. EDT on account of adverse weather condition.

Starlink, according to the company’s CEO and the mastermind behind this idea, Elon Musk, could be the thing to ‘redefine’ how people think of Internet access. We are used to getting Internet access from fixed lines, and satellite Internet is purely curious experiments or last-ditch efforts for those who can’t conveniently be wired up like those in remote regions. Starlink is the game-changer that could turn the satellite Internet into a viable and economical service for millions, even billions.

With last year’s scandal of the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) abolishing net neutrality causing much uproar. Starlink has also presented the opportunity to save this concept and advocate for an open Internet, or continue to ignore it just like other ISPs had gleefully done.

Starlink Briefing

Starlink, technically, is a massive satellite constellation composing of some 12,000 individual satellites. It would be the largest satellite Internet systems occupying low Earth orbit once the constellation reached full capacity. The latency, Musk boasted, could be low enough to power online video games. To gain access to the constellation and its service, customers just need to buy and install a ground station in direct view of the constellation: Which is anywhere in the world.

Needless to say, once SpaceX announced the pricing and servicing, customers would come pouring in. In fact, it is optimistically forecasted that Starlink could be so large a revenue stream for SpaceX that it could transform the company. Providing even more funds for the company’s ultimate mission of bringing humans to Mars and turn us into a multi-planetary species.

Ready To Go

Although the original launch schedule this Wednesday was scrubbed and moved to secondary windows on Thursday, Musk did share pictures of the system packed up and ready within the Falcon 9’s fairings.

Unfortunately, these are only test satellites and would not be used as part of the final constellation. Gwynne Shotwell - SpaceX’s president, said at a conference held in D.C. on May 7th that these satellites are used purely for testings. They lacked the inter-sat links that would be present on real Starlink satellites.

“They’re capable, but there’s no inter-satellite links on [them],” Shotwell said. “I call them ‘test class’ satellites.”

Before this deployment, SpaceX had launched two demo satellites before in February last year. Certainly, the sixty test-class satellites this time around are far more capable and would provide SpaceX with a greater wealth of information than the demo satellites, called affectionately by the company as Tintin. Musk called the test-class satellites: “production design, unlike our earlier Tintin demo sats.”

If the tests are successful, the rest of the year could be a great time for space-faring enthusiasts as we are very likely to witness multiple launches of Starlink satellites into orbit. Shotwell also said during the conference that there could be two to six Starlink launches in 2019 and whether these launches would be real or not depends largely on the launch on Thursday.

In only a few launches, Starlink would gradually take shape into a true, global network. Musk said that only six more launches similar to the one we would see on Thursday (A grand total of 360 satellites) could provide enough bandwidth for “minor” coverage. Doubling that number to 12 launches and 720 satellites, Starlink could have “moderate” coverage.

If all goes well, SpaceX could have a rudimentary constellation running by the end of this year.

Starlink: In Technical

The ground station that you need to connect to Starlink is the size of a “pizza box” that could lock onto satellites and receive signals with steered antennae beams. SpaceX has filed for permission to have about 1 million of these base stations on Earth.

Starlink satellites communicate with one another through lasers, which could make connectivity up to 50% faster than traditional fiber optic cables.

SpaceX expected to have 4,409 satellites in the constellation, each satellite weighing at about 850 pounds. There are two orbits upon which Starlink satellites would sit: At 550 kilometers above the Earth, SpaceX would have 1,584 satellites and at 1,150 kilometers would be the rest of the estimated constellation. The FCC granted permission for SpaceX to set-up the constellation in this manner back in May.

Though the massive scale of the constellation seems as if it is a formidable “space junk” threat. SpaceX assured that most of the satellites would naturally decay, de-orbit, and burn up in the atmosphere at the end of their service lives.

Pricing?

There are no solid pricing just yet. But everyone is expecting Starlink to be so great a competitor to many Internet service providers that it could trigger a race to lower prices. Furthermore, Americans could save up to $30 billion a year in Internet-related costs from initiatives like Starlink.

Current satellite Internet services are charging about $50 per month. Since SpaceX is talking a lot about keeping everything affordable, we could reasonably expect their pricing to hover at this price point or lower.

Competitors And Pressure Of Time

Unfortunately for SpaceX, it is not the only company trying to create its own orbital Internet system. OneWeb and Amazon are just two of the most ‘threatening’ competitors. The first of which launched six satellites in February and is aiming for a constellation of 900 satellites by 2021. Amazon, under the code-name Project Kuiper, is trying to have a constellation of 3,236 Amazon-branded satellites on orbit.

But SpaceX’s worth nemesis might not be other companies vying to do the same, but time. The FCC gave it the deadline of March 29th, 2024 to have 50% of its initial constellation on orbit. And three years after that, to have the complete constellation up and working. Totaling only eight years to have everything ready, SpaceX will really need to shift their gears to achieve their insane but totally awesome ambition.