This document discusses SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet constellation. Starlink aims to provide global high-speed, low-latency broadband internet by deploying thousands of mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit. Currently there are over 900 Starlink satellites in orbit. The satellites communicate with ground stations and consumer dishes to transmit internet signals. Starlink promises faster speeds than traditional satellite internet by using a closer LEO orbit. However, critics warn the large constellation risks increasing space debris and interfering with astronomical observations. SpaceX ultimately aims for a constellation of 42,000 satellites to provide continuous global coverage.

1. Space Internet
and Starlink
Presented By:
Sahil Gupta
2017BITE045

2. Contents
• Introduction
• Space Internet
• Pros and Cons
• Working of Space Internet
• Starlink
• Features
• Working of Starlink
• Advantages
• Major Criticism
• Future
• Other competitors in market
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3. Introduction
• Internet services are now
part of humanity’s basic
infrastructure
• It is important means of
delivering a wide variety of
public services to the world’s
people
• Still currently, about 4 billion
people, more than half the
world’s population, do not
have access to reliable
Internet networks
• Because the traditional ways
to deliver the Internet —
fiber-optic cables or wireless
networks — cannot take it
everywhere on Earth.
• In many remote areas or
places with difficult terrain, it
is not feasible or viable to set
up cables or mobile towers.
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4. Space Internet
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5. Space Internet
• Internet access provided through communication satellites
• Systems use satellites in geostationary orbit. This orbit is located at a height of
35,786 km over the Earth’s surface, directly above the Equator.
• Theoretical data transfers at the speed of light.
• Involves 3 satellite dishes; one at the internet service providers hub, one in space
and one attached to your property. In addition to the satellite dish you also need a
modem and cables running to and from the dish to your modem.
• Latency: Average 638 ms
• Average uplink rate: 256 kbit/s
• Average downlink rate: 1 Mbit/s
• Maximum uplink rate: 1000 Mbit/s
• Maximum downlink rate: 1000 Gbit/s
• Additional services: VoIP, SDTV, HDTV, VOD, Datacast
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6. Space Internet
6
Disadvantages
• There is a time lag between a user seeking data, and the
server sending that data
• A transmission from a satellite in geostationary orbit has a
latency of about 600 milliseconds
• There is a limited bandwidth
• Terrestrial Blockage from trees, etc. limit the speed
• Weather also factor in change in speeds
Advantages
• Can Reach remote areas
• One big advantage of beaming signals from geostationary
orbit is that the satellite can cover a very large part of the
Earth. Signals from one satellite can cover roughly a third of
the planet — and three to four satellites would be enough
to cover the entire Earth
• Also, because they appear to be stationary, it is easier to
link to them

7. Working of
Satellite Internet
Satellite Internet generally relies on three primary components:
• A satellite, typically in geostationary orbit (sometimes referred to as a geosynchronous Earth orbit, or GEO)
• A number of ground stations known as gateways that relay Internet data to and from the satellite via radio
waves (microwave)
• A small antenna at the subscriber's location, often a VSAT (very-small-aperture terminal) dish antenna with a
transceiver
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8. Starlink

9. Starlink
• Starlink is a satellite internet constellation
being constructed by SpaceX providing
satellite Internet access started in 2015
• The constellation will consist of thousands of
mass-produced small satellites in low Earth
orbit (LEO), working in combination with
ground transceivers
• Each Starlink satellite is compactly designed
and weighs about 260kg
• At the current time, 901 Starlink satellites are
operating at 550 km above the earth’s
surface in LEO
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15. Working of Starlink

16. 16

17. Delivering the internet via satellite is so much more
efficient than by wire because the signal travels 47%
faster as a wave through the vacuum of space than it
does traveling along a fiber optic cable

18. Starlink Over
Traditional
Satellite
• Current internet satellites orbited around 35,786 kilometers above the earth which is really far
away
• So the coverage area of satellite is great but the distance also results in a time delay between
sending and receiving data
• Starlink satellites orbit significantly closer at around 550 kilometers above the earth's surface
• This means that they triangulate data much faster with minimal delay but also means that their
coverage area is far smaller
• So we need a load more of them to build up a comprehensive network that offers reliable global
coverage
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19. Major Criticism
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Space debris
• Space debris or space junk is a term for defunct human-
made objects in space—principally in Earth orbit—which
no longer serve a useful function.
• The first batch of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites had at least
5% “dead” or unresponsive units that were expected by
the company to deorbit naturally and burn up in the
atmosphere.
• Once thousands of these satellites rise to a higher orbit,
it’s reasonable to assume that a number of them will
malfunction.
Light Pollution
• The planned large number of satellites has met with
criticism from the astronomical community because of
concerns for light pollution
• Astronomers claim that the number of visible satellites
will outnumber visible stars and that their brightness in
both optical and radio wavelengths will severely impact
scientific observations
• Because the Starlink satellites can autonomously change
their orbits, observations cannot be scheduled to avoid
them

20. Future
• The public Starlink beta began on October 26,
2020, in select areas of the United States and
Canada
• Starlink told its early internet beta testers
"expect to see data speeds vary from 50Mbps
to 150Mbps and latency from 20ms to 40ms
[milliseconds] over the next several months as
we enhance the Starlink system. There will also
be brief periods of no connectivity at all".
• The future goal of Starlink is to create a
constellation of 42000 satellites around the
earth.
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21. Other competitors in market
• Globalstar – an operational low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation for
satellite phone and low-speed data communications
• Iridium satellite constellation – an operational constellation of LEO satellites
for global satellite phone service
• Kuiper Systems – a planned 3236 LEO satellite Internet constellation being
built by an Amazon subsidiary
• OneWeb satellite constellation – a former competitor for a LEO internet
constellation, future plans unclear after bankruptcy
• Orbcomm – an operational constellation used to provide global asset
monitoring and messaging services from its constellation of 29 LEO
communications satellites orbiting at 775 km
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22. Thank You