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It's entirely different. Right now Starlink is a bent pipe model. The customer's station connects to a satellite which relays data to the closest ground statio
by bri3d 4y ago
It's entirely different.
Right now Starlink is a bent pipe model. The customer's station connects to a satellite which relays data to the closest ground station. Therefore, the satellite must be in contact with both the customer station and a ground station at the same time. This is not possible over oceans.
Newer Starlink satellites also have a satellite to satellite laser link which is intended to allow relay from consumer station -> satellite -> other satellite -> ground station to provide coverage over oceans, but this functionality has not yet been enabled and relies on enough satellite density that each satellite can see a neighbor.