[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.9.4″ parallax=”on” custom_margin=”0px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||||false|false” top_divider_color=”#e02b20″ top_divider_height=”30px” z_index_tablet=”500″ box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px”][et_pb_row use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”2″ _builder_version=”4.9.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”100%” custom_margin=”0px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||||false|false”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.0.3″ z_index_tablet=”500″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” link_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ol_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” quote_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px”]We live in the \u201cCommunications Age\u201d \u2013 rapid access to information and connectivity to each other, anytime, nearly everywhere.\u00a0 But despite the massive strides that have been made in the past half century \u2013 from hardline telephony to the current ubiquitous wireless \u201csmart\u201d device connectivity \u2013 there is still further evolution to come that will necessitate extending the communications reach even further.\u00a0 While we have laid down a large physical infrastructure of wireline fiber-optic networks and wireless cellular base stations, the next advances in communications, 5G and machine-to-machine communications, will require \u201chelp from above\u201d to blanket literally every corner of our planet with high speed, ultra-low latency, secure networks \u2013 telecom meet satcom.
\n[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/iridian.com.cn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Picture-Optical-Satcom-Lights-the-Way-1024×451.png” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.0.3″ custom_padding=”42px|||||” z_index_tablet=”500″ box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.3″ z_index_tablet=”500″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” link_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ol_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” quote_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px”]<\/p>\n
Internet traffic has grown by an order of magnitude over the past decade [1] and this growth is expected to continue driven largely by a massive increase in mobile internet and the internet of things (IoT) including the coming adoption of autonomous vehicles, all to be supported by high speed, high bandwidth 5G networks.\u00a0 There are now 3x more devices connected to the internet than there are humans and the ratio is rapidly accelerating.\u00a0 Additionally, despite the perception in the developed world that everybody is \u201conline\u201d, there are still ~4 billion people in the developing world without internet access and where the terrestrial fiber-optic backbone may not exist and may be impractical to deploy.\u00a0 Needless to say our communications infrastructure needs to evolve, both to support the increasing use and demand for low latency services (video, machine-to-machine interactions) and to provide these services to remote and rural locations \u2013 deserts, the north, at sea, and in the air.<\/p>\n
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Satellites have been part of our communications networks since first being envisioned by Arthur C. Clarke in 1945 \u00a0in an article in Wireless World [2] and then realized in 1962 by Telesat with Telstar1 [3].\u00a0 While transforming the distribution of TV and some long-haul telephony, the costs and availability of satellites and launches, and the limitations (speed, security, and latency) of the communication technologies available has precluded reliance on a space based communications infrastructure. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0However, recently many of these barriers have begun to disappear at the same time that the demand for such systems has risen. \u00a0Satellite launches, from both space agencies and commercial launchers, are such a regular occurrence as to no longer be newsworthy; in the first 10 months of 2019 there were 43 launches consisting of 218 unique satellites only addressing needs in communication and earth observation [4].\u00a0 There are another 18 launches consisting of 300 satellites for communication and EO planned for the remainder of 2019.\u00a0 Space is clearly more accessible than ever before.<\/p>\n
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Provision of internet services from space was not previously feasible as most communications satellites were deployed in geosynchronous orbits (GEO) in order to provide broad global coverage with a limited number of satellites.\u00a0\u00a0 Flying at more than 35000 km above the earth\u2019s surface provides broad geographical coverage but results in a ground-to-satellite latency of hundreds of ms (theoretically no less than ~120ms).\u00a0 By contrast, satellites flying in low earth orbit (LEO) at ~1000 km above the earth\u2019s surface are expected to able to achieve a network latency of tens of ms (Telesat LEO claims 30-50ms; LeoSat claims direct ground-to-sat latency \u00a0<20ms).\u00a0 The latency achievable by these LEO networks is even better than can currently be realized via terrestrial fiber networks; LeoSat compares a terrestrial fiber latency from London to Singapore of >180ms with <120ms expected to be achieved by their eventual LEO network.<\/p>\n
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In order to provide global coverage from LEO, a constellation of satellites connected in an orbital mesh network is necessary.\u00a0 Depending on the coverage and mandate of the networks planned, the different network architectures range from as many as 60-100 satellites up to several thousand with SpaceX\u2019s Starlink network proposing 11000+ individual satellites! [5][6]<\/p>\n
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