When you think of billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, chances are good that you think of his electric car company Tesla, his space-exploration venture SpaceX or his recent stint hosting Saturday Night Live (to say nothing of his history of stirring up controversy on social media or his involvements around cryptocurrency). Maybe you just know him as one of the richest people on Earth.
There's a chance you might have heard about his new venture Starlink which aims to sell internet connections to almost anyone on the planet by way of a growing network of private satellites orbiting overhead.
There's a lot of news flash and headlines floating about it like:
The billionaire SpaceX CEO is launching satellites into orbit and promising to deliver high-speed broadband internet to as many users as possible.
So what is Starlink exactly ?
Technically a division within SpaceX, Starlink is also the name of the spaceflight company's growing network -- or "constellation" -- of orbital satellites. The development of that network began in 2015, with the first prototype satellites launched into orbit in 2018 and currently over with 10,000 customers by end april.
In the years since, SpaceX has deployed over 1,000 Starlink satellites into orbit across dozens of successful launches.
Is it globally available?
That's the idea, yes.
Just like existing providers of satellite internet like HughesNet or Viasat, Starlink wants to sell internet access -- particularly to people in rural areas and other parts of the world who don't already have access to high-speed broadband.
All you need to do to make the connection is set up a small satellite dish at your home to receive the signal and pass the bandwidth on to your router. There's even a Starlink app for Android and iOS that uses augmented reality to help customers pick the best location and position for their receivers.
The cost of the service is billed at $99 per month, plus taxes and fees, plus an initial payment of $500 for the mountable satellite dish and router that you'll need to install at home.
''Users can expect to see data speeds vary from 50 to 150 megabits per second and latency from 20 to 40 milliseconds in most locations over the next several months," Starlink's website says.
Why satellites, anyway? Isn't fiber faster?
Fiber, or internet delivered via ground-laid fiber-optic cable, offers upload and download speeds that are indeed much faster than satellite internet -- but, as companies like Google will tell you, there's nothing fast about deploying the infrastructure necessary to get fiber to people's homes. That's not to say that there's anything simple about shooting satellites into space, but with fewer sharp-elbowed competitors -- and with a lot less red tape to cut through -- there's every reason to believe that services like Starlink will reach the bulk of underserved communities long before fiber ever will.
What about bad weather and other obstructions?
That's definitely one of the downsides to satellite internet. Per Starlink's FAQ, the receiver is capable of melting snow that lands on it, but it can't do anything about surrounding snow build-up and other obstructions that might block its line of sight to the satellite.
In 2019, shortly after the deployment of Starlink's first broadband satellites, the International Astronomical Union released an alarm-sounding statement warning of unforeseen consequences for stargazing and for the protection of nocturnal wildlife.
Is there a alternative or a market competitors for Starlink?
That last role has hitherto been played by satellite phones fuelled by relatively small number (8-10) of geostationary satellites run by companies like Iridium, Globalstar, Thuraya and Inmarsat.
Inmarsat maintains an earth station at Ghaziabad in the national capital region and this helped it to tie up with BSNL as an Indian partner to offer its iSatPhone handsets and a Global Satellite Phone Service (GSPS) which includes voice calls and Internet access.
On 18 December, UK-based communications company OneWeb announced a jumbo launch of 36 communications satellites, at one go, by a Soyuz launch vehicle in Russia.
OneWeb’s announcement pointed at the two big co-owners of this enterprise: the British government and Bharti Global (part of Bharti Enterprises who run Airtel, India’s largest mobile service and the third-largest cellular operator in the world).
Benefits for India:
Oneweb expects to start Internet services in 2021 across swathes of the northern hemisphere — including the north polar region which has never been illuminated till now. As more satellites join the network, India could be offered high-speed Internet around the middle of 2022, Sunil Bharti Mittal (Chairman of Bharti Enterprises)assures.
But some regulatory issues may have to be addressed. Unlike the co-investor UK, Bharti is a private player and would need the consent and cooperation of the Indian government, including agencies like ISRO, before Indian enterprises and lay customers can install user terminals.
In any case, satellite-based space Internet remains the costliest method of delivery compared to fibre cables and mobile wireless. It makes its case by promising broadband connectivity to vast interior regions left unconnected or under-served, as well as a reliable communication tool in disaster situations.
It will have to decide if endorsing and supporting the global role of a private India-based player in futuristic technology, could be an unquantifiable but useful ‘message’ — or just the hard-nosed and techno-commercially savvy thing to do.
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