[Starlink] For you satcom geeks ...

["Dick Roy" <dickroy@alum.mit.edu>]

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From MIT's Tech Review: I am guessing Elon has read this article already!
:^))))

 

 

Her tiny satellites could bring connectivity to the remotest places on
Earth.

Sara Spangelo didn't quite make it as an astronaut. But four years after an
unsuccessful tryout with Canada's space agency, she's achieved her own space
milestone: unveiling the world's lowest-cost always-available satellite
communications network.

Spangelo, who holds a PhD in aerospace engineering from the University of
Michigan, is CEO of Swarm Technologies <https://swarm.space/> , which seeks
to provide affordable data services for devices anywhere on Earth. Today,
nearly 90% of the planet's surface, including oceans, deserts, and polar
regions, lacks internet access. Connecting via satellite has long been
cost-prohibitive, because satellite networks typically cost billions of
dollars to deploy and maintain.

The key to lowering costs was to bring down size: Swarm's satellites,
roughly the size of a slice of French toast, are the smallest two-way
communication devices in orbit today. Because they're so compact, they can
hitch rides on commercial rockets for bargain prices: total launch costs for
Swarm's full constellation of 150 satellites, which the company will finish
placing in low Earth orbit by the end of 2021, will run less than $3
million. 

Swarm's data connection, which uses the VHF radio spectrum, won't enable
seafarers to stream Netflix: its current transfer rate of 1 kilobit per
second is similar to 1990s dial-up. Swarm's niche, rather, is giving
customers the ability to transmit small yet highly useful packets of
information from the world's most far-flung places. This enables them to
remotely monitor water supplies, detect leaks in pipelines, measure soil
contents, track wildlife, or guarantee the temperature of vaccines in
cold-chain transport. 


by Jonathan W. <https://www.technologyreview.com/author/jonathan-w-rosen/>
Rosen


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June 30, 2021


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