Elon mask internet project. Elon Musk is planning free internet for everyone. How will this system work?

Two experimental satellites for the Starlink project are in orbit. In the future, this system can provide humanity with satellite Internet - fast and cheap. True, many details of the ambitious plan are still kept secret.

small but many

Satellite Internet already exists and works with several operators. True, it is inconvenient to use it. Now VSAT technology uses satellites in geostationary orbit at an altitude of about 36 thousand kilometers. The signal arrives with a delay from hundreds of milliseconds to several seconds - a bad option for video calls or online games.

The idea of ​​Elon Musk and SpaceX is this: to place several thousand satellites in very low Earth orbit. They will be able to cover a smaller area - but there will be a lot of them.

The company's latest plans include launching 12,000 satellites. Some of them will be located at an altitude of 1100 - 1300 kilometers, the rest - at an altitude of about 300 kilometers. The satellites themselves will be small - the size of a small refrigerator, each will be equipped with all the necessary equipment and two solar panels. The mass of each is from 100 to 500 kg.

Perfect Internet

If all goes well, Starlink will cover the entire planet with stable internet. P about the idea of ​​SpaceX, the signal delay will be about 25 - 35 milliseconds, and a stable connection speed - up to 1 Gb / s.

“If successful, this system will provide people in low-to-moderate population areas with affordable high-speed internet access. Including those who have never had access to the Network before, ”said the company representatives.

True, there are many things that the company has to think about. Satellite Internet will definitely work in rural areas in the open. But in dense urban areas, the signal can be significantly worse, says Recon Analytics analyst Roger Enterner.

Innovation or space junk?

The first tests of the Starlink project have already begun. SpaceX plans to launch the first workstations by 2019 or 2020, and cover the entire planet by 2024. True, it will be very difficult to maintain such a pace.

In an application to the local regulator, the company noted that it would need to launch more than 60 satellites per month. And then it was about 4425 spacecraft, after which their number was increased almost three times. It turns out that SpaceX will have to produce and launch at least two satellites a day.

12 thousand satellites is a lot. In 2017, 24,000 objects of various sizes were tracked in near-Earth orbits. The implementation of the Starlink project will increase this number by one and a half times.

The company separately thought out how to avoid clutter and de-orbit failed vehicles. True, some experts doubt that such a number of objects in orbit is a good idea.

Huge market that doesn't exist yet

Fast satellite internet is a very lucrative industry. SpaceX believes that the capacity of this market will be tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars a year. And it will grow as more and more people connect to the Web.

The company has already raised billions in investments from Google and Fidelity. By 2025, Elon Musk plans to receive up to $ 30 billion in revenue. In addition, SpaceX will be able to generate income from the lease of its Internet satellites to other organizations.

Perhaps this project will allow SpaceX to receive funding for the creation of reusable transport spacecraft that will be used to transport people and cargo to Mars.

What are we?

It is not yet known in which countries this Starlink will work. The company plans to roll out the first universal access in the US, then Canada, Europe, and then the rest of the planet. It is difficult to say where Eastern Europe ranks on this list.

Starlink's competitor, the OneWeb project, was recently turned down by the Russian authorities because the frequencies required for the system "may be required for the Russian constellation of Arctic satellites."

But wherever Starlink launches, it will spur competition among ISPs, according to Michael Calabres, head of the Wireless Future project. Satellite broadband will compete with both cable and cellular operators. Subscribers will benefit from more providers competing for their wallets.

Most recently, on February 22, 2018, the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle launched two experimental Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit at once. It is expected that in the medium term, this system will once and for all change the Internet on Earth, making it fast, cheap and affordable. In itself, such an idea is not new, but it seems that only Elon Musk decided to take it seriously ...

1. Little but a lot

Satellite Internet is already available today, it is provided by several operators, it is quite inconvenient to use it. They use VSAT technology. Satellites hang in geostationary orbit at an altitude of about 36 thousand kilometers. The whole problem is that the signal comes with some delay, which makes such an Internet unsuitable for online games and video calls.

Elon's idea is to place satellites much closer to the Earth. This should improve communication, but will reduce the area covered by them. Musk intends to compensate for this by the number of satellites in orbit. So, in the short term, the company plans to launch 12,000 devices. They will hang at an altitude of 300 to 1,300 km. Such a device will weigh up to 500 kg, and will not exceed the size of a refrigerator.

2. Perfect web

If Elon Musk succeeds, then the Starlink project will cover the entire planet with the Internet. It will be stable and available, the signal will arrive with a delay of 25-35 milliseconds, and the speed will be up to 1 Gbps. There is really one "but". Such an Internet will work fine in rural areas, but in cities the signal will be worse.

3. Innovation against space debris

Starlink tests are already in full swing. SpaceX expects to launch the first workstations by 2019 and 2020. They want to completely cover the entire globe with satellites by 2024.

Thus, the company will have to launch about 60 satellites per month. Initially, it was about 4425 spacecraft, but recently their number has been tripled. To maintain the desired pace, the company will have to launch two satellites per day.

It should be understood that 12 thousand satellites is a lot. For comparison: in 2017, there were 24,000 such objects in Earth orbit.

4. The market that doesn't exist

SpaceX believes satellite internet is a very lucrative market. Its annual turnover will reach billions of dollars. Giants such as Google and Fidelity have already been involved in the project. The Mask web will also earn by renting its satellites to other companies.

5. What does it all mean

It is still difficult to judge where satellite Internet will be deployed. The company plans first of all to connect Canada and the USA, then the countries of Europe.

Subsequently, Elon Musk expects to connect the entire planet to his Internet. In addition, the project may have political complexities. Thus, Starlink competitor OneWeb was rejected by Russia for strategic reasons.

To do this, SpaceX is going to launch over 11,000 satellites.

Elon Musk's SpaceX will launch the first test satellites for its future communications network on Saturday. With their help, she plans to provide Internet access around the world. But she has serious competitors.

SpaceX's new test gets far less attention than its recent launch of the world's most powerful rocket, the Falcon Heavy. Musk didn't even mention the event on Twitter because it's more of a prototype test so far. But if successful, SpaceX plans to launch commercial satellites next year and complete a network of more than 11,000 satellites in low Earth orbit by 2024.

SpaceX began work on this project back in 2014, but then focused on improving its main Falcon 9 space rocket and preparing for the long-delayed Falcon Heavy launch.

The launch of test satellites means the company is still in the race to provide internet access. Previously, Google wanted to create its own network of satellites. But then it became one of SpaceX's biggest investors when it raised $1 billion in an investment round three years ago. Meanwhile, Japan's SoftBank and Richard Branson are backing Europe's OneWeb, which hopes to provide broadband Internet access from 2019. In total, US regulators have received 12 applications to test satellites that provide Internet access. In addition, Facebook wants to provide Internet connectivity in remote corners of the Earth using drones.

During the test, SpaceX will launch two small satellites into orbit and test communications with several stations on Earth, including Tesla headquarters. One of the main applications of future 5G networks is expected to be high-speed data transmission for self-driving cars. SpaceX plans to build a so-called peer-to-peer (mesh) network from satellites, which allows information to be transferred between them and provide full coverage of the Earth.

The volumes of data transmission over networks in the near future may increase dramatically, given the large number of satellite companies. "The future will be insatiable demand," says Cisco Systems CEO Chuck Robbins. But it's too early to predict how many competing satellite networks will support 5G, he says.

At the beginning of the century, several ambitious satellite projects failed, slowing investment in the industry. But since then, the economic attractiveness of such projects has grown significantly. “The bankruptcy of Globalstar and Iridium scared everyone away,” says Robert Twiggs, one of the inventors of a new generation of low-cost CubeSats that have driven the cost of space projects down.

Small satellites located in low orbits have so far been used for space imaging of the Earth - for example, in the agricultural and energy industries. But they have not yet been used to transmit data over communication networks. Their proximity to Earth can help avoid the delays that satellites experience in higher orbits.

This week, SpaceX's plan was personally endorsed by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. He urged the other members of the commission to approve the company's application for a communications license. The SpaceX project will provide high-speed Internet access to residents in rural areas of the United States, Pai said. Thus, SpaceX may be the first American company to obtain this license - following the European OneWeb, Space Norway and Canadian Telesat.

Will Elon Musk make free Internet on the whole Earth February 24th, 2018

Everyone has heard that SpaceX successfully launched the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, which, among other things, carries the company's two test Internet satellites. In the future, Elon Musk plans to launch thousands of satellites into orbit, which will provide broadband Internet access by uniting into a single Starlink network.

Personally, without going into details, I thought how good it is, now, without being tied to mobile operators, you go out into the field in the Far East (or somewhere in the savannah of Africa, or in the middle of the open ocean), you take out your smartphone - and there is free high-speed Internet. Turn on the online broadcast and communicate with anyone you want. Cool! It's practically worldwide Wi-Fi.

Well, "free" is of course generally a distant future, well, of course we'll pay some penny, what's there. This is the dream of modern man!

But in fact, everything is not as colorful as we would like ...

Will Starlink be free?

No, it will not. In the imagination of most readers, most likely, the operation of the network is similar to the operation of LTE networks: you take out your phone, connect, and you're done. But that's not the case at all. Starlink devices will transmit data in the Ku- and Ka-bands of frequencies - similar to telecommunications satellites, which, for example, are used by broadcasters.

In any case, users will need a receiver (it will cost several hundred dollars, like a modern satellite phone, periodic subscription fees are quite possible): you can forget about cheap Internet for poor countries. That is, the main thing to understand is that Starlink will not solve the problem of the cost of providing services. It will only make it easier to access these services.

By the way, they say that Starlink receivers will be built into Tesla cars by default.

Will Starlink be fast?

If everything goes according to plan, yes. Here everything is explained simply: the higher the frequency of data transfer, the higher its bandwidth. The more powerful the transmitter, the more clients it can serve simultaneously, although there are certain limitations here. The number of simultaneously connected subscribers is also important - the more there are, the lower the speed for each.

Existing geostationary telecommunication satellites provide communication services in the Ku and Ka bands (12-18GHz and 26.5-40GHz respectively), usually the speed is limited to about 12 Mbps, in some cases it can reach 100 Mbps. You can estimate the size of the antenna required to receive such a signal simply by looking at the satellite television antennas used today. The height of the orbit of the vehicles (~ 1100 kilometers) will allow covering a section of the earth's surface with a radius of about 1060 kilometers, and the promised signal delay will be about 25 milliseconds.

In March 2017, it was also reported that SpaceX plans to supplement the constellation with vehicles operating in the V-band (from 40 to 75 GHz). Such satellites will theoretically be able to provide speeds up to 1 Gbit / s. At the same time, they will be much larger, and the signal itself in the V band has a lower penetrating power, although it is less dependent on weather conditions. In any case, heavy telecommunications V-satellites are likely to enter the market in the early 2020s.

Yes, and SpaceX currently has official permission only to launch a constellation of satellites for Ku- and Ka-bands of up to 4425 pieces. More "fast" V-band devices in the amount of 7518 pieces so far exist only on paper (in the application to the relevant US services). And in addition to Elon Musk's company, Boeing, OneWeb, Telesat, O3b Networks and Theia Holdings are planning to launch such systems.

How will Starlink work?

SpaceX vehicles will operate in orbit on the principle of a mesh network. In simple words, each satellite will maintain a simultaneous connection with several “colleagues” surrounding it, which will make it easy to “transfer” the user between satellites and keep the connection session active, without the need to reconnect every time a new device flies overhead.

A similar network is used by the satellite operator Iridium (by the way, one of the main customers of SpaceX launches) - their global system covers 100% of the globe and allows you to provide communication to any subscribers, wherever they are. And it's already working right now!

How long will it take to get Starlink into orbit?

Based on SpaceX plans, two years. If you look at the company's capabilities more realistically - at least five years. The fact is that SpaceX physically cannot launch more than ten such devices at a time (their dimensions are 4 x 1.8 x 1.2 meters), therefore, the entire constellation of 4425 satellites will require more than 400 launches. Even the first stage (called Initial deployment, only 800 devices are enough for commercial readiness) of 1600 Starlinks, which is necessary to ensure the network operates in nominal mode, will require at least 160 launches! The obvious solution - to use the successfully tested heavy version of the Falcon Heavy - will not help, because the size of the nose fairing, not the power of the rocket, is the limiting factor in the number of satellites.

If SpaceX manages to reach 40 successful launches per year and the company will deal only with the Starlink network (which is impossible in principle), we will see a working constellation in orbit not earlier than in 4 years. Thus, the full operation of the system should be expected by the year 2025.

SpaceX may try to solve the problem of the number of devices by raising their orbit - this way each satellite will cover a large area on Earth. But this will require recalculation of technical characteristics and significant changes in the structure of the devices.

Ping (signal delay, ping) is an important characteristic for those who like to play shooters, as SpaceX assures, it will be no higher than 25 ms.

If you have cable Internet, then the ping of your large Internet services is in the region of 5-10 ms. Wi-Fi boosts ping, which is why gamers opt for cable. Accordingly, 25 ms is a theoretical ping to the equipment, but there will already be 50 pings to your device via Wi-Fi ... Naturally, it all depends on where exactly the data centers and ground stations for receiving and transmitting information to satellites will be located. After all, somehow “the Internet should appear on the satellite”? :) It will come from ground stations. If in the US 25ms ping is still achievable, tk. and the servers will be located there, then in the Russian Federation, if there are no base stations in Europe or Asia - naturally, no. After all, a signal that goes even along a laser link through low-orbit satellites will have to travel several thousand kilometers in both directions, and it is unlikely that it will be possible to achieve less than 100 ms from the United States.

Another important detail is regional content restrictions. You can often see an inscription on Youtube stating that this video is blocked for display in your country ... Added to this is censorship on the Web. How these problems will be solved is not yet very clear. Most likely, each country will put up its own base stations and act as a real provider, and SpaceX will only be an intermediary (but does SpaceX need this?). There is no particular problem in this, each provider will be able to install a ground station for receiving and transmitting information and calmly serve subscribers in their country, SORM will also stand there. Either something will specifically change in the world, in digital rights, and finally the Internet will become free from censorship :), but I think that the first option.

Will they ban or suppress?

The fact is that land-based providers will lose money when subscribers switch to the heavenly Internet. It is this reason that is the main one in the attempts to fight the Internet from SpaceX or OneWeb. Russia will have to create either joint ventures or install base stations on the territory of the Russian Federation and engage in the production of equipment.

Who can benefit from Starlink?

Travelers. People living in sparsely populated areas of the planet. For those who do not have access to the usual wired Internet. Citizens of states with active Internet censorship (at your own risk). At the same time, one should not forget that Starlink, as a satellite operator, will operate under US jurisdiction.

With all this, it will be a fairly low-budget service.

What other pros/cons do you see here?

springs

Elon Musk is about to announce plans to create a new Internet provider based on space satellites, with the help of which not only remote regions of the Earth without coverage, but also a planned colony of earthlings on Mars will be connected to the network. He told Bloomberg Businessweek about it.

Elon Musk

According to Musk, he is going to launch hundreds of satellites into orbit at an altitude of 1200 kilometers above the Earth and distribute the Internet using them. This is much closer than traditional communications are located, located at an altitude of up to 35 thousand kilometers, so Musk's Internet provider will be faster than conventional satellite Internet. According to the publication, in theory, the speed of such a provider can be comparable to the Internet via fiber.

Our goal is to create a global communications system that is bigger than anything we've talked about before.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX

According to Musk, the Internet will be 40% faster than fiber due to the vacuum in space. Unlike the Earth, where data passes through dozens of routers when transmitted over fiber optics, in space the signal will immediately hit the satellite, go along the chain to the right place and “go down” down.

The ISP development company will be based in Seattle and have an initial staff of 60 with a forecast to grow to 1,000 within three to four years. Employees at the internet satellite factory will also work on SpaceX's Falcon rockets and Dragon carriers. The timing of the launch of the project in operation is unknown.

Despite the original goal of creating a provider to provide Internet to remote regions of the Earth, Musk also plans to use its infrastructure to connect to the network of a colony on Mars. Until then, the provider can serve as a long-term source of revenue for SpaceX's construction of a Martian colony.

Musk promises connection speeds 40% faster than fiber, and a satellite-based system will later lead the Internet to Mars

The cost of the project, according to Musk, will be about $10 billion. The name of the project is unknown. The entrepreneur promised to announce additional details of the project at the SpaceX event in Seattle, scheduled for the night of January 17th.

On January 14, Greg Wyler announced the creation of a similar satellite Internet service provider, OneWeb. It has received investment from Richard Branson's Virgin Group to launch 648 satellites, ten times more than the largest satellite provider, Iridium Communications, has. The Wall Street Journal estimated the cost of investing in OneWeb at $1.5-2 billion. According to Weiler, the project will be put into operation before 2018.

According to Elon Musk, he and Wyler seriously differ in their views on the architecture of such projects, although they pursue similar goals. He also stated that there should be two competing projects.

Richard Branson has said Elon Musk's company may have trouble getting the internet into space. Wyler's company has the necessary licenses to use the appropriate frequencies, Branson said, and there may not be "physically enough space" in space for two providers to operate at the same time. The entrepreneur expects that Musk will be inclined to work on a joint project with OneWeb.

Musk and Wyler worked together on a satellite internet project, but disagreed, although Branson continues to try to persuade Musk to cooperate.

January 5 Musk on Reddit new details of SpaceX plans to colonize Mars. According to him, before the end of the year, the company is going to present a new spacecraft Mars Colonial Transporter and a spacesuit with a design that meets the aesthetics of the XXI century.

For the first time, Musk's plans to create an Internet in space became known on November 7 after the publication of The Wall Street Journal. It was then reported that Musk and Wyler were working on a joint WorldVu Sattelites project. According to the newspaper, earlier Wyler proposed to start creating Google satellites, but the project did not take place due to insufficient search engine expertise in the manufacture of satellites, according to the entrepreneur.

On April 28, member of the Federation Council Maxim Kavdzharadze on the need for Russia to create a national satellite Internet provider with the working name Cheburashka. In a May interview with TJ Kavdzharadze, that the idea was to create an independent communication channel that would be available from anywhere in the world, and that a group of independent Russian scientists at institutes and research and production associations had already begun work on its creation. Since then, nothing more has been known about Kavjaradze's initiative.