Smartphones brought the most significant shift in web access since the Internet became accessible from home. Now, satellite Internet is poised to bring about a similar breakthrough in web accessibility. Thanks largely to the innovation of Space X’s Starlink satellite Internet program, we can envision a future where network access is available virtually everywhere, without the need for terrestrial data lines or cellular tower infrastructure.
How does satellite Internet work?
Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke envisioned satellite communications in his 1945 paper, “Extra-Terrestrial Relays – Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage?” The Internet–and even man-made satellites (aka rocket stations)–wouldn’t be a reality until many years later. Yet the idea of transmitting signals to space and back is fundamentally the same, with one notable exception: the implementation of geostationary orbit, or the lack thereof.
Clarke’s proposed satellite relays (and a wide range of in-service communication satellites today) travel in an orbit that produces a consistent position with respect to a point on the Earth’s surface (i.e., geographically stationary). The orbital mechanics work out that each satellite must be positioned at 35,786 km from the Earth’s surface to maintain this speed.
To interface with such a satellite, one simply has to point a transceiver in the proper direction and it’s locked onto the satellite’s data stream. This geostationary paradigm is how satellite providers HughesNet and Viasat work, allowing a very wide range of geographic coverage from a minimal number of large satellites.
Starlink uses a very different concept, instead deploying thousands of smaller satellites at a much lower altitude of 550 km. Per this lower orbital height, they must travel much faster than the Earth’s rotational speed, and their geographic coverage is more limited. Because they’re moving with respect to the Earth’s surface, tracking Starlink satellites is more complicated than aim-and-forget.
Related: How 5G home Internet may replace your current Wi-Fi
Latency: A benefit of satellite Internet
Starlink speeds are typically better than HughesNet and ViaSat, but the fundamental advantage of satellites in Starlink’s (relatively) low-flying constellation is latency. It takes less time for a signal to go from the Earth to a satellite and back, per the limits of the speed of light (300,000 km/s). Consider that at a geostationary altitude of 35,786 km, a signal takes roughly .12 seconds to reach a geostationary satellite from the Earth’s surface.
For Internet communication, a request must travel to the satellite and return to a base station for processing. Return data must then travel to the satellite and back to the requestor’s location, meaning two round trips total—and therefore .48 seconds (4 x .12 seconds) for data to arrive. Add in latency on the ground and you’re likely well into the half-second range. However, signals traveling to the Starlink satellites at 550 km in space take only .0018 seconds to arrive using the same math. Multiply by four and you have a minimum ping of .072 seconds, or 72ms.
How reliable is satellite Internet?
While the technical details of satellite Internet can be fascinating, at the end of the day, why would you want to get this service? The short answer is that you probably wouldn’t. If you live in an area with good (or even decent) land or cellular broadband service, neither Starlink, HughesNet, or ViaSat will typically be able to compete with existing options on price or performance.
Consider the prices for each service, along with download bandwidth and theoretical minimum latency:
- Starlink: $90 - $500/month, 50-500 Mbps, 72ms ping
- Viasat: $64.99 - $149.99/month, 25 Mbps, 480ms ping
- HughesNet: $30-$169.99/month, 12-100 Mbps, 480ms ping
Note: Price/data information is per mid-2023 and doesn’t include installation fees or equipment rental. Ping is a minimum value, calculated via the methodology described above.
If those numbers don’t speak to you immediately, visit speedtest.net and run a test, keeping in mind what you pay for service. My download speed is 369 Mbps with an upload speed of 11.09 Mbps and a ping of 9ms. While not spectacular for landline service, that blows any available satellite option away.
Satellite Internet can be beneficial for communities without existing broadband access. Rather than waiting for service providers to allow you to connect to their broadband, you have the option of Internet access by satellite. Unfortunately, Starlink is still rolling out its service in some areas, but Viasat and HughesNet are accessible across most of the U.S.
The future of satellite Internet
Don’t expect satellite Internet to replace land or cellular options soon, but you will see it supplement cellular data in certain instances. Take, for example, the iPhone 14’s emergency texting service, which relays data via satellite when a terrestrial cellular signal isn’t available. While rudimentary, consider what the next iteration may look like. Satellite Internet access is being made available on ships, RVs, and airplanes, and we can expect further expansion of these capabilities soon.
Regarding specific technological advances, Viasat recently launched its ViaSat-3 satellite for improved network performance, and HughesNet is planning to launch its Jupiter 3 satellite later this year. HughesNet debuted a new Fusion satellite Internet plan, which combines terrestrial and satellite Internet data for improved latency. For their part, Viasat has explored supplementing geostationary data transmission with a low-Earth orbit constellation.
Other companies are entering or involved in the satellite Internet space, further fueling innovation. Amazon is preparing its Kuiper low-Earth orbit satellite network, and Britain's OneWeb satellite Internet provider has over 600 satellites in their constellation. We can also expect Starlink to expand its capabilities and coverage areas. Interestingly, their contracts even include language referencing service on the Moon and Mars.
Why satellite Internet is a game-changing technology
While the extraterrestrial Starlink language might seem overly ambitious, consider that vertically landing a rocket was the purview of science fiction not too long ago. It will be exciting to see this technology develop in the coming years and be game-changing for those who can take full advantage of it.
Of course, one satellite communications technology has already revolutionized how we get from place to place in the form of global positioning satellites. Browse a wide range of products that interface with this satellite network, allowing you to add precision positioning and timekeeping to your project at Arrow.com.
Related Product Links: Search GPS products on Arrow.com
