Satellite Internet : Riffifi in the firmament

In space, in an area called LEO (Low Earth Orbit) located at a distance of approximately 200 up to 1.000 km above our heads, several hundred, or even thousands, satellites are already flying. They are mainly dedicated to communications and observations of all kinds., civilian and military.

But for a short decade a fratricidal war has been declared., A frantic race between several private and semi-public companies to offer high-speed Internet to all humans, wherever they live on the globe. It matters, because this market, Beyond the altruism and generosity displayed by these ambitious programs, promises several billion dollars in earnings in the coming years.

To date, 17 New satellite constellations are planned, which concern more than 430.000 LEO satellite (¹). We are talking here about mini-satellites, or nanosatellites, lightweight and easy to launch in packs of several dozen. The way things are going, it is possible to wonder how all this little world will manage to coexist without pile-ups !

The two most advanced actors in this approach are Starlink, subsidiary of SpaceX, both powered by Elon Musk that it is useless to present, up to OneWeb, British semi-public airline benefiting from the partnership of Airbus Industrie and a recent alliance with the European telecommunications giant Eutelsat. But other actors are in ambush, such Amazon by Jeff Bezos or the aeronautical giant Boeing.

Space War

Amazon and SpaceX bosses weigh together more than 380 billion dollars. A colossal fortune largely invested in their space activities. These two companies have the ambition to build gigantic constellations of satellites to connect the whole world to the Internet.

SpaceX has received authorization from the U.S. authority, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to send 12.000 Satellites and ambition, forward, a squadron of 42.000 satellites. Amazon, For its part,, has obtained FCC approval for a constellation of 3.236 Satellites in low Earth orbit via its subsidiary Kuiper Systems, who has, to date, no launch yet.

However, SpaceX has filed an application to place its second-generation satellites in a lower-than-planned orbit (from 540 up to 570 km instead of 1.100-1.300 km). An altitude that could increase the risk of collision and interfere with Kuiper's satellites, programmed themselves to fly at 590 km high. Amazon has therefore asked the FCC to stay this request.. Amazon has thus communicated :

We designed the Kuiper system to avoid interference with Starlink, and SpaceX now wants to change the design of its system. These changes not only create a more dangerous environment for collisions in space., But they also increase radio interference for customers.".

The battle between the two giants only illustrates the growing congestion of space. The development of nanosatellites and the significant drop in the price of launches have led in recent years to an unprecedented increase in the number of objects in space.. After Amazon asked the FCC to reject SpaceX's latest change to its Starlink satellite network, Elon Musk highlighted his company's response that Jeff Bezos is exceptionally litigious. " The lawsuits against SpaceX are actually his full-time job ", tweeted Elon Musk. Atmosphere…!

Most advanced

• STARLINK

Elon Musk's project is currently the most advanced to reach the general public. It is also the hugest financially project of the company to build an internet network with a constellation of thousands interconnected satellites., with the aim of providing universal high-speed internet. SpaceX said : " Users can expect to see download speeds between 100 up to 200 Mbps and a latency of 20 MS in most places".

Launched in May 2021, Starlink is already available in the test phase in 45 countries and claims 700.000 end-users in 2022. Starlink fixed internet is aimed at people living in rural areas or without landline internet options such as ADSL, cable or fiber optics. Starlink also offers a mobile usage plan for vehicles on the move (RV, boating), and a maritime service for marine professionals. However at the beginning of the year 2023 the system is still in the testing phase, services and tariffs are not yet clearly defined, and coverage far from global.

Mid-February 2023, SpaceX has already put into orbit 3.415 satellites and targets a total of 4.408 satellites for the first generation SG1 program. A second SG2 program has been approved by the FCC for 7.500 satellites, whose 269 already in orbit, which should be completed by 22.488 additional satellites, awaiting approval. The company detailed plans for the next generation of satellites in federal filings. According to it, " the satellites of the SG2 program are heavier and will be somewhat larger and will generate more power than the previous ones. The SG2 constellation will complement the first generation constellation currently being deployed.", wrote SpaceX during the filing. The complete constellation, with nearly 34.400 satellites planned, will form the infrastructure that will enable Elon Musk to deliver high-speed internet and unlimited data to remote areas around the world.

• ONEWEB

The British company OneWeb, with which Eutelsat, third largest telecom satellite operator in the world, announced the merger, will provide global high-speed Internet access, mainly for professional users. The European space giant Airbus Industry issued within four years 544 satellites on 648 planned for the first generation OW1. The first models, about ten units, had been manufactured in Toulouse and the remainder was subsequently mass-produced in a factory in Florida owned by OneWeb Satellites, joint venture at parity between OneWeb and Airbus Defence and Space.

With the latest launch of 48 new satellites on 10 January 2023, near 85% of the constellation is now in orbit, bringing the number of operational satellites to 544. OneWeb had also requested in 2018 authorization for the FCC to deploy 1.260 additional satellites, that will increase the total number of projects to 1.980 satellites.

From the beginning 2023, The constellation is expected to provide high-speed, low-latency connectivity to a wide range of civil and military sectors, in particular aviation, Navy, Business and Government. At the heart of its objective, OneWeb seeks to bring connectivity to places inaccessible to fiber optics, and thus to bridge the digital divide, in direct competition with Starlink. This did not prevent the last satellites from being launched by SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets in 2023. Business is business !

Latecomers

• KUIPER

Amazon announced in 2019 his satellite internet project named Kuiper. The company unveiled the plans and launch supplier of the prototype satellites. The infrastructure would include very low-cost receiving dishes 30 cm wide, from ReQuTech in Sweden, supporting up to 400 Mbps data rate. Jeff Bezos plans to launch 3.236 LEO internet satellites, a system directly competing with Starlink.

Amazon said it plans to invest more than 10 billions of dollars in the construction of the Kuiper project, and it already has a research and development facility for 20.000 square meters in Redmond, in Washington State. The Redmond site has developed prototypes and helped produce commercial satellites, "But to realize our vision of the project, we need to operate on a much larger scale.", said Amazon. A new factory in the suburbs of Seattle, in Kirkland, is under construction to support the manufacture of its own Project Kuiper satellites.

Although Amazon has taken a first step when it comes to hardware for the antennas it needs to connect to the network, It has not yet started launching its satellites. The first two prototypes are due to be launched at the beginning of the year 2023. In a press release, Amazon explained : "We will use the results of the mission to finalize the design., deployment and operational plans for our commercial satellite system".

It seems obvious that Bezos has fallen behind on Starlink, and that it loses the best places in the firmament ! Il lui faut donc ralentir la marche forcée de son concurrent pour conserver un espace disponible. La société de Bezos a demandé à la FCC de rejeter la demande d’amendement SG2 de SpaceX, claiming it violates FCC rules by proposing two different configurations in orbit. The lawyer for Amazon's Kuiper company, wrote on 25 August 2022 :

Leaving almost all important details unworked out – such as altitude, inclination, and even the total number of satellites – SpaceX did not comply with FCC rules.".

Orbiting objects will have to play hard to get a place around the Earth !

• BOEING

The US leader in aeronautics Boeing also obtained in November 2021 green light from the US authorities for its constellation project with a first batch of 147 satellites, intended to provide internet from space. The vast majority of satellites are to orbit in the lower edge of the LEO at 156 km high (²) up to 15 other much higher, in MEO (³) between approximately 27.000 up to 44.000 km. The long-term project concerns a constellation of 5.841 satellites to cover the entire planet.

The company plans to offer high-speed internet connection services, priority to rural Americans affected by the digital divide, but also in regions where it is impossible to access fixed telecommunications networks. The group estimated that it would take six years to deploy a first part of its space infrastructure and open its first services., and as many additional years to have a complete constellation covering most of the globe.

It should be remembered that Boeing is a major satellite manufacturer for major operators such as Inmarsat., SES, Intelsat, Eutelsat, VSAT, and many others. Despite the hazards of civil aeronautics, the company has undeniable know-how and financial capacity.

Failures

• GOOGLE LOON

Google X sees itself as a "revolutionary idea factory". On its website, It read :

Our mission is to invent and launch cutting-edge technologies that, we hope so, will one day make the world a radically better place.".

One of their most significant projects was the Loon. Rather than opting for a constellation of satellites, expensive, complex to coordinate and requiring a large specialized infrastructure, Google X aimed lower. The company planned to install a series of solar-powered hot air balloons in the upper atmosphere., at the edge of space.

The aim was to provide internet access to the world's poorest, is the most untapped market for Internet consumers. But opening up new markets could have real benefits, such as providing cell phone services and internet access to aid workers and residents of affected areas until local sources are available again.

Alas, Google's parent company, Alphabet, permanently stopped its Loon program in January 2021. The company realized that the operation was economically too uncertain. More than seven years after presenting this extravagant project, the American company understood that it was going nowhere. In a blog post published on 22 January 2021, It was therefore decided to stop firing. End of story.

• FACEBOOK AND ITS DRONES

Facebook planned to launch a fleet of solar-powered drones, in order to transmit Wi-Fi to populations deprived of the Internet. Each drone had to cover an area of 100 km in diameter and fly at an altitude greater than 18.200 meters. The first prototype, The’Aquila, a giant wing of 30 m wingspan, weighed 454 kg.

According to the social media giant, the drone would transmit Wi-Fi signals using "Laser Communications and Millimeter Wave Systems". Each drone could fly for three months in a row. "In addition to being at the forefront of technology, it would be energy efficient, absorbing 5.000 watts it needs thanks to the sun. That's not a lot of energy, the equivalent of what is needed to run three high-end hair dryers or microwaves".

Although it may have seemed like a solid project, the second test flight in February 2018 did not go well. The drone has reached 3.000 feet (910 meters). But it only held 96 minutes before crashing to the ground. This was three times the duration of the first test flight, which took place in December 2017. Nevertheless, in a blog post in 2018, Facebook said it no longer designs or builds its own planes and closes its Bridgewater facility..

And then ?

At the beginning of this year that has seen many sailors around the globe rush to Starlink dishes and services, with mostly rave reviews despite a product not really adapted and a service not finalized, The future now seems mapped out… in the stars ! To paraphrase what I wrote in my recent Guide Expert at Voiles & Voiliers :

[…] It is certain that access to weather forecasts and safety information for navigation will become, in a few years, as easy at sea as on land. "

Is it a bet that we will spend more time at sea with our noses glued to a screen than contemplating the waves?, clouds, birds, dolphins, sunrises and sunsets… ? That's another story. In any case we will inevitably have our eyes in the stars.

–––
(¹) All figures come from Jonathan McDowell's excellent and exhaustive observatory Jonathan's Space Report.
(²) For the record, the International Space Station (ISS) orbits at an average altitude of 400 km.
(³) MEO : Medium Earth Orbit. Region used by most positioning constellations (see GNSS in the Glossary).
–––