The van Allen radiation belt [1] starts at 650 km (and ends at 58,000 km). The satellites would probably have a shorter lifetime if they were higher. Since the

The van Allen radiation belt [1] starts at 650 km (and ends at 58,000 km). The satellites would probably have a shorter lifetime if they were higher. Since the speed of light is 300,000 km/s, adding 300 km adds one millisecond of delay, or 2 milliseconds to a roundtrip. Doesn't seem a lot for satellite internet? Geostationary orbit is at 36,000 km, then for lag that is indeed problematic as it's then 240 ms for a round trip. Still bearable. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Allen_radiation_belt https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Allen_radiation_belt