SpaceX promises space online in 2019

Last year, SpaceX filed a request to start 4425 satellites for Internet distribution. The main problems of such systems are high latency and low bandwidth, but the company Elon musk hopes to establish a more efficient solution, building your network in low earth orbit. At a recent hearing in the U.S. Senate, SpaceX representatives said that the first devices are planned to send into space in 2019.

Told

SpaceX is going to send into orbit a prototype of the online companion before the end of this year and another in the first months of 2018. If the test is successful, the starts of other vehicles will start in 2019, and by 2024 the system will reach full capacity. Elements of the future global network will deliver the rockets, the Falcon 9, given that reuse of the first stage will considerably reduce the implementation costs of the project.

Devices will operate at 83 orbital planes at a height of 1110 – 1325 kilometers. For comparison, the existing satellite network HughesNet is located at an altitude of about 35.4 kilometers. SpaceX will also need to create a system of ground stations. They will be able to receive a signal from several satellites, thereby dynamically controlling the capacity of the network depending on the load. The project documents are also referred to 7500 additional devices located closer to the Land and to further reduce latency, but there are no details yet.

What are the competitors doing

A British company, OneWeb, together with the Airbus plan from 2018 to 2019 to launch 672 Internet satellite. Your project space of the Internet was announced and Boeing — in the next six years, the aerospace giant is set to launch into orbit for almost three thousands of devices for Internet distribution.

Source: Engadget

For those who want to know more: