WASHINGTON, December 2, 2022 — Low earth orbit satellites have the potential to offer life-changing connectivity for rural and underserved customers if they will overcome problems with affordability and sustainability, based on Dan York, director of on-line content material for the Internet Society.

Speaking at a Friday occasion hosted by the Gigabit Libraries Network, York defined that LEO expertise may help to not solely join the 2 billion folks worldwide who’re unserved but in addition enhance connectivity for the underserved.

Traditional geostationary satellites can present some connectivity, however the excessive latency prevents makes use of like video calling or on-line gaming. LEOs supply a low-latency, high-speed connection that helps real-time communication.

In addition to being an interim resolution whereas fiber buildout takes place, LEOs can present redundancy throughout disasters and different outages, mentioned Don Means, director of the Gigabit Libraries Network.

York agreed, noting that LEO satellites performed an necessary function in offering connectivity in the course of the aftermath of Hurricane Ian or throughout wildfires in California.

“Starlink makes it super easy because they can bring one of their trailers into a location, put up a Starlink antenna on the top, bring that connectivity down and then they can share it locally with Wi-Fi access points or cellular access points so people can be able to get that kind of connectivity — first responders, but also people in that local community.”

LEO satellites can present connectivity even for sure areas that lack a floor station by utilizing inter-satellite lasers, York added.

There are three main LEO system elements. Satellite constellations are made up of lots of or hundreds of satellites, launched into orbit and organized into “shells” at numerous altitudes.

User terminals facilitate the transmission and receipt of information to and from the satellites. The antennas are “electronically steerable,” which means that they will observe a number of satellites with out bodily shifting.

The last LEO system part is floor stations, also referred to as gateways, that are the big antennas and amenities that join the satellites to the web.

Advances in rocket expertise are driving a rise in LEO satellites, York mentioned. For instance, SpaceX is reusing rockets, making launches inexpensive. The comparatively smaller dimension of LEO satellites signifies that they are often mass produced utilizing meeting strains.

However, affordability remains to be a barrier to widespread adoption, York mentioned. Another problem is competitors with cellular telecom corporations for spectrum allocation. ISOC lately released a study discussing these points and making suggestions for his or her decision.

There can also be nonetheless some uncertainty concerning the capability of those connections, York mentioned, pointing to anecdotal stories in addition to an Ookla research exhibiting that Starlink’s capability had decreased in sure areas.

“How much of that is growing pains while Starlink continues to build out the rest of its constellation, versus how much of it might be inherent limitations within the systems?” he requested. “We don’t know. I think we probably won’t know until more of these systems get up and are launched.”

Despite these questions, York was optimistic concerning the promise of LEO expertise: “I think there’s great potential that these systems, as they come online, can truly offer us ways to connect the unconnected.”