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Will constellation completion and intersatellite links expand the reach to polar areas as well? It would be a game changer for Arctic and Antarctic.

by xvilka 4y ago

wumpus 4y ago
OneWeb already offers service above 50 degrees north, so it's not really a game-changer. It's the other game-changer. My South Pole colleagues would love to have a better network.
Cthulhu_ 4y ago
Looking at the orbits for Starlink, they are currently not flying over the north / south pole directly. I don't know if there's plans to do so later, probably if the investments start to pay off and they can afford more launches and sattelites. But for now it's a big money sink and I'm sure the service isn't yet paying for itself - if it ever will.
- mschuster91 4y ago
  > But for now it's a big money sink and I'm sure the service isn't yet paying for itself - if it ever will. Given that the estimated cost of building and launching the satellites is estimated at only 600 million dollars [1], it is estimated to take something around two or three years until it's been paid off, followed by two years of generating profit and the next five-year cycle starts (assuming that their estimate of five years life time per satellite holds [2]). Personally, I think Starlink was the best bet SpaceX ever made. That thing will be a permanent cash cow. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2022/02/14/starlink-hits-250000-customers-elon-musk-hints-spacex-booking-over-300-millionyear/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2022/02/14/starlin... [2] https://subspace.com/resources/spacex-is-giving-the-internet-lift-with-starlink https://subspace.com/resources/spacex-is-giving-the-internet...
madaxe_again 4y ago
If only - it doesn’t appear so. Connectivity in the Antarctic is laughable - McMurdo has 17Mbps iirc, and it flakes out not infrequently, Amundsen-Scott is “when a satellite is visible”, and being on a ship in the polar regions is typically even worse, as more often than not you’re dealing with crappy weather and a rolling vessel, and a poor and intermittent iridium signal. It also all costs an absolute fortune - iridium is about $1000/mo for 100Mb, and $10 for each additional Mb - and there are surcharges for use in polar regions. Musk could probably bankroll all of starlink just by serving the scientific communities in Antarctica.

Will constellation completion and intersatellite links expand the reach to polar areas as well? It would be a game changer for Arctic and Antarctic.

by xvilka 4y ago

Will constellation completion and intersatellite links expand the reach to polar areas as well? It would be a game changer for Arctic and Antarctic.

wumpus 4y ago

OneWeb already offers service above 50 degrees north, so it's not really a game-changer. It's the other game-changer. My South Pole colleagues would love to have a better network.

Cthulhu_ 4y ago

Looking at the orbits for Starlink, they are currently not flying over the north / south pole directly. I don't know if there's plans to do so later, probably if the investments start to pay off and they can afford more launches and sattelites. But for now it's a big money sink and I'm sure the service isn't yet paying for itself - if it ever will.

mschuster91 4y ago
> But for now it's a big money sink and I'm sure the service isn't yet paying for itself - if it ever will. Given that the estimated cost of building and launching the satellites is estimated at only 600 million dollars [1], it is estimated to take something around two or three years until it's been paid off, followed by two years of generating profit and the next five-year cycle starts (assuming that their estimate of five years life time per satellite holds [2]). Personally, I think Starlink was the best bet SpaceX ever made. That thing will be a permanent cash cow. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2022/02/14/starlink-hits-250000-customers-elon-musk-hints-spacex-booking-over-300-millionyear/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2022/02/14/starlin... [2] https://subspace.com/resources/spacex-is-giving-the-internet-lift-with-starlink https://subspace.com/resources/spacex-is-giving-the-internet...

madaxe_again 4y ago

If only - it doesn’t appear so. Connectivity in the Antarctic is laughable - McMurdo has 17Mbps iirc, and it flakes out not infrequently, Amundsen-Scott is “when a satellite is visible”, and being on a ship in the polar regions is typically even worse, as more often than not you’re dealing with crappy weather and a rolling vessel, and a poor and intermittent iridium signal. It also all costs an absolute fortune - iridium is about $1000/mo for 100Mb, and $10 for each additional Mb - and there are surcharges for use in polar regions. Musk could probably bankroll all of starlink just by serving the scientific communities in Antarctica.