3 ms·

There are a lot of people in the ocean at any given time. This is exactly the type of scenario Starlink is designed for: providing access in very remote and ru

There are a lot of people in the ocean at any given time. This is exactly the type of scenario Starlink is designed for: providing access in very remote and rural areas.

hnlmorg 5y ago
No it's not. Starlink requires satellites have visibility of a ground station and that the users dish be registered to a ground station. Currently neither roaming is supported nor is satellites communicating with other satellites to hop to a ground station that otherwise wouldn't be in range. Thus that makes Starlink inappropriate for use on ships and other platforms in the ocean (stationary or otherwise). Future iterations of Starlink might support this, the service is still in beta at the moment, but it would be a jump to suggest that is why there are satellites over the oceans. What's actually happening is they're not on a geo-stationary orbit. ie they're travelling faster than the Earth's rotation. So they'll spend time over land and time over the oceans too.
- ganoushoreilly 5y ago
  Starlink Beta users (myself included) already received an updated notice about Sat to Sat laser communications coming online in the near future. It's not a jump to say that's why they are over the ocean, in fact it's already been proven that Starlink is in use on SPACEX recovery platforms. Further, Starlink is working with major airlines already to provide faster network connectivity to commercial and private flight. Starlink will be available across the globe, facilitate land, air, and sea access. Being designed for this function isn't predicated on current availability. A plane is designed to fly, but because it's on a tarmac doesn't suddenly make that a false statement.
  - ghshephard 5y ago
    The parent had it right. They are over the ocean because they are in LEO and are constantly in motion relative to earth, it's got nothing to do with Sat-to-Sat laser (though that should enable access to remote areas like the ocean)
    - gmiller123456 5y ago
      Musk has already said the plan is to offer it to ocean going vessels. Yes, they're over the ocean because they're in LEO, but he put them in LEO specifically so they could reach those places. Whether or not it actually materializes can be taken with all the grains of salt you would normally take with anything Musk says.
      - rtkwe 5y ago
        They don't have to be in LEO to provide service to the oceans the GEO sats provide service for ocean going vessels. They're over the ocean because there's no way for them to provide solid coverage over land without providing solid coverage everywhere between a set N/S latitude band. Any gap to avoid satellites over oceans would be a gap over land periodically it's just how the orbits work.
        gmiller123456 5y ago
        The reason for putting thousands in LEO, vs three in geostationary orbit was to limit the transmission latency.
        rtkwe 5y ago
        It also probably has cost benefits on a per satellite and launch basis because it lets them use lower power transmitters and receivers since they're so much closer. Comms sats are generally much larger than the Starlinks with the cost of launches going up because of that.

There are a lot of people in the ocean at any given time. This is exactly the type of scenario Starlink is designed for: providing access in very remote and rural areas.

hnlmorg 5y ago

No it's not. Starlink requires satellites have visibility of a ground station and that the users dish be registered to a ground station. Currently neither roaming is supported nor is satellites communicating with other satellites to hop to a ground station that otherwise wouldn't be in range. Thus that makes Starlink inappropriate for use on ships and other platforms in the ocean (stationary or otherwise). Future iterations of Starlink might support this, the service is still in beta at the moment, but it would be a jump to suggest that is why there are satellites over the oceans. What's actually happening is they're not on a geo-stationary orbit. ie they're travelling faster than the Earth's rotation. So they'll spend time over land and time over the oceans too.

ganoushoreilly 5y ago
Starlink Beta users (myself included) already received an updated notice about Sat to Sat laser communications coming online in the near future. It's not a jump to say that's why they are over the ocean, in fact it's already been proven that Starlink is in use on SPACEX recovery platforms. Further, Starlink is working with major airlines already to provide faster network connectivity to commercial and private flight. Starlink will be available across the globe, facilitate land, air, and sea access. Being designed for this function isn't predicated on current availability. A plane is designed to fly, but because it's on a tarmac doesn't suddenly make that a false statement.
- ghshephard 5y ago
  The parent had it right. They are over the ocean because they are in LEO and are constantly in motion relative to earth, it's got nothing to do with Sat-to-Sat laser (though that should enable access to remote areas like the ocean)
  - gmiller123456 5y ago
    Musk has already said the plan is to offer it to ocean going vessels. Yes, they're over the ocean because they're in LEO, but he put them in LEO specifically so they could reach those places. Whether or not it actually materializes can be taken with all the grains of salt you would normally take with anything Musk says.
    - rtkwe 5y ago
      They don't have to be in LEO to provide service to the oceans the GEO sats provide service for ocean going vessels. They're over the ocean because there's no way for them to provide solid coverage over land without providing solid coverage everywhere between a set N/S latitude band. Any gap to avoid satellites over oceans would be a gap over land periodically it's just how the orbits work.
      - gmiller123456 5y ago
        The reason for putting thousands in LEO, vs three in geostationary orbit was to limit the transmission latency.
        rtkwe 5y ago
        It also probably has cost benefits on a per satellite and launch basis because it lets them use lower power transmitters and receivers since they're so much closer. Comms sats are generally much larger than the Starlinks with the cost of launches going up because of that.