Our Space is filled with space satellite of different companies. Until now, our telephone and internet connection depended on the infrastructure installed near us. Some companies like SpaceX have considered changing the landscape with their satellite constellations, but it is a more complex project than it might seem.
Interest in space and the potential advantages it has for humanity has increased greatly in recent years. The opportunities they offer are endless, and it is something that many people are beginning to see.
Private companies, of course, are also unaware of the benefits of getting involved in and taking an active role in space missions . More and more companies are working on creating rockets, space capsules and other elements necessary for each mission.
It is a phenomenon that is occurring especially in the United States, with companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin and Boeing at the forefront of this movement. NASA has already counted on these companies several times, and in fact they have contracts established with all of them for the next few years.
And this sudden interest in space is by no means casual . Companies have realized that beyond its relevance to science, the ability to travel into space can bring great benefits.
Knowing this, many companies have decided to go beyond agreements with space agencies to develop their own projects of various types. A fairly common one is space tourism, that is, travel to space for people who are not professional astronauts.
There have not been any such trips yet, but there are already some planned for the next few years. And beyond space tourism, there are other business models that are gaining momentum in the space industry.
Index of contents
- A new era for telecommunications
- SpaceX and its constellation of satellites
- Starlink’s competitors
- The big problem with satellite constellations
Perhaps one of the most popular is the one centered on communications satellites . We generally receive our telephone signal thanks to installations with cables, antennas and other instruments installed in our environment.
But if you live in a rural area, or in a region quite remote from the big cities, you will know that many times the coverage of these services is very scarce , or even null in certain circumstances due to the lack of infrastructure.
Knowing this, private companies in the space industry have proposed the creation of various satellite networks for communications. And we are not talking about a dozen satellites per company, but about hundreds and even thousands of satellites orbiting our planet .
This could dramatically change the world of telecommunications in a very few years. And Elon Musk and company know it. However, it is not a simple mission, and some of the obstacles it poses could be a real problem in the long term.
A new era for telecommunications
As we mentioned before, our telecommunications usually depend on the infrastructure created for that purpose on the surface of our planet. Antennas, signal repeaters, fiber optic cable installations …
Communications facilities of this type are often very effective , and are generally more than sufficient to keep the majority of the population adequately communicated.
So why bother spending time, money, and resources deploying a communications satellite network? If the usual infrastructure works well, trying to create a radically different one seems like an unnecessary effort .
However, the reality is much more complex. The antennas, repeaters and other signal transmission devices work mainly on the basis of proximity . The closer we are to them, the better internet (and telephone) signal we receive on our devices.
And of course, if we opt for a cable connection due to the advantages it offers, we are forced to remain in a fixed place to remain connected to the internet. Despite the fact that this connection guarantees more speed, the limitation it imposes is considerable.
If you live in a city or town where the telecommunications infrastructure is properly distributed and in good condition, all this is probably not a problem .
But things change a lot in places without the proper infrastructure . Think of rural areas, forests, mountains, or even in the middle of an ocean . Signal facilities in places like this are scarce or non-existent, which makes communication quite difficult.
Generally, those who need to use the internet in these places are resigned to having an unstable and low-speed connection, unable to manage a video call or a streaming service.
And in other places, the connection is simply non-existent. For example, taking a boat trip on the ocean means leaving the internet signal behind until you return to the mainland . And in emergency situations, such as natural disasters, the infrastructure can end up destroyed and communication completely impossible.
This is where satellite internet comes in. As such, it is a service that already exists today, and allows the telephone and internet signal to reach even the most remote places .
Not only is it very useful to get the connection to places where there is no access, but it is also very beneficial in emergency situations where it is not possible to connect in the usual way.
With all this in mind, the idea of continuing to use internet infrastructure that relies on terrestrial facilities seems almost counterproductive. And while it is true that satellite internet has its advantages, it also has some significant drawbacks.
One of the main problems with this type of connection is the poor reliability of the connection based on climatic factors . In bad weather days, the received signal can be very unstable and disconnect frequently.
It is also quite an expensive system: if you want to use satellite internet at home, it is usually necessary to install antennas on the roof . And of course establishing a satellite network large enough to satisfy millions of people is not especially cheap for businesses.
The speed and latency aren’t particularly good compared to the connection we’re used to either. However, in recent years it has improved a lot, so it is not usually a big problem either.
SpaceX and its constellation of satellites
It is clear that the satellite system has its advantages and disadvantages. It is certainly a system that still has a lot to offer r, but until now, very few companies had set out to invest in it enough to change the landscape of Internet connections.
Everything has changed since the arrival of SpaceX , the aerospace company of billionaire Elon Musk. This company has entered the space industry by breaking the mold.
If there is something that characterizes SpaceX, it is its interest in innovation and investing in new technologies . It is one of the main companies that has developed reusable rockets in recent years, until they become a reality.
And another project that they have proposed to carry out in the coming years is to create a constellation of satellites around the Earth, with the aim of generating a global internet connection network .
This project has been called Starlink, and its goal is to put several thousand satellites into orbit over the next decade. There have already been some space missions aimed at taking these satellites into space, thanks to which several hundred satellites already orbit our planet.
Thanks to the technology that SpaceX has developed, the plan is that once the constellation of satellites is deployed on a large scale, it will begin to provide broadband and high-speed internet service globally.
But in principle, the service will be limited to the United States and Canada, and could start operating later this year . Although logically, with the current circumstances, it is possible that there will be delays in the planned calendar.
Starlink’s competitors
As innovative as the project may be, SpaceX is by no means the only company that has decided to launch thousands of satellites into space to distribute the internet connection around the world.
In the United States alone there are several large companies that present themselves as direct competition to the Starlink satellite network. And all of them have the means to establish their own constellation in not too many years.
One of the main competitors is Amazon. Jeff Bezos’ company has a subsidiary called Kuiper Systems , dedicated to creating a project very similar to Starlink: a constellation of internet satellites.
The project came to light last year, and recently Amazon has received approval from the US government to launch more than 3,000 satellites into space over the next decade.
The Amazon satellites are still in the design phase , so it will still take a while to see it up and running. But more than half are expected to be deployed in space by 2026.
Another company that is also involved in a similar project, and that poses as a direct competitor to Elon Musk’s satellites, is OneWeb . This UK-based company has collaborated with ESA and Airbus to develop their satellites and take them into space.
The objective of OneWeb was the same as that of the other companies that we have mentioned, although with a considerably smaller deployment of satellites . Specifically, its plan is to launch around 650 satellites, of which more than 70 already orbit in space.
However, the future of OneWeb is far from clear. They recently declared bankruptcy , and were rescued by an investment from the UK Government and various companies.
Since that investment implies that the parties involved have a great interest in the project, it is to be expected that everything will go ahead . But considering that the company is going to experience important changes, it is possible that there will be changes compared to what had been planned so far.
In any case, it seems that all these companies, including SpaceX, will do well. Satellite internet contracting has increased a lot, especially during the months of quarantine and social distancing. And this could help that type of connection to normalize little by little.
The big problem with satellite constellations
The possibility of having a global satellite network that carries the internet to even the most remote places is of course something that could benefit many people, especially if the service they offer is not expensive.
But far from being all advantages, the constellation of satellites present a series of quite serious problems , both in the short and long term. And to make matters worse, they have no easy solution.
The first problem they pose is the risk of collision . Currently the environment of Earth orbit is full of space debris generated by all kinds of missions. With the satellites we used so far, there was no danger of a crash.
But if we suddenly add thousands of satellites to the equation, things change a lot. Under these conditions, the risk of collision between different satellites increases considerably.
In fact, SpaceX satellites have already had some encounter , and the company has not been able to manage the situation . Last year one of the Starlink satellites came into collision risk with ESA’s science satellite Aeolus.
And at SpaceX, instead of moving their satellite to avoid the crash, they stood idly by. SpaceX had the obligation to take measures so that the collision did not occur, but due to its inaction the ESA had to displace Aeolus to avoid risking losing the satellite.
And apart from the risk of collision, there is another considerable problem: the interference that satellites cause in large research telescopes around the world. Unfortunately, the design of the Starlink makes them visible to the naked eye , and this has serious consequences for astronomy.
Keep in mind that in astronomy every thousandth of a second counts . Scientists have a very limited time to use large telescopes, especially in research aimed at observing inconspicuous celestial objects.
But on several occasions, the passage of Starlink satellites through the night sky has been a real disaster for these scientists. Starlinks excessively reflect light , creating a trail in the sky that interferes with images from telescopes.
The satellites are simply so bright that they end up preventing telescopes from taking sharp images . And this can be a waste of invaluable astronomical information.
Perhaps in the future this will not be a problem, since SpaceX is working with the scientific community to try to reduce the impact of its satellites. Although some scientists are not very optimistic about whether a suitable solution can be found .