SpaceX to Start This Weekend Deploying Global Internet Satellite Network

February 17, 2018 – The service Elon Musk’s company is about to deploy has been given the name Starlink. On Sunday, if all goes well, a Falcon 9 rocket will deploy the first two microsatellites in what will eventually become a worldwide space-based network providing phased array broadband communications for the entire planet. If these two demonstration orbiters prove the technology is viable it will mark the beginning of a deployment of nearly 12,000 Internet satellites that should begin operations in 2020 and be fully deployed by the mid-2020s.

The demonstration microsatellites are non-geostationary. In other words, they do not remain in a single location very much the way GPS satellites operate. The planned deployment of these first two is to have them initially orbit about 511 kilometers (approximately 300 miles) above the Earth with plans to raise them to 1,125 kilometers (approximately 700 miles) in a series of maneuvers over several weeks.

The total network will be divided into two types of communication satellites. One is dubbed LEO. The other VLEO. They will operate at different radio frequencies and will orbit in 83 different paths. There will be nearly 12,000 of them flying in orbits at altitudes of 1,125 kilometers and 338 kilometers (210 miles).

Combined they will provide a wide range of broadband and communication services globally. The V-band microsatellites will provide coverage to remote users in rural and hard-to-reach areas of the planet. The LEO microsatellites, 7,518 in total, will be able to provide more narrowly defined services over a broad range of coverage.

SpaceX plans to de-orbit and replace microsatellites as they reach the end of life expected to happen between 5 to 7 years.

The Wall Street Journal projected last year that by 2025 the network will have at least 40 million subscribers netting Starlink a cool $30 billion U.S. annually.

SpaceX isn’t alone in the race to provide a satellite-based Internet. Joining them is OneWeb and Boeing.

OneWeb plans to deliver its Progressive Pitch (TM) patent-pending technology through 900 mass-produced satellites which will broadcast to ground-based terminals acting as hubs and delivering WiFi/LTE/3G and 2G coverage for cellphones, tablets, and computers across the entire planet. There will be no dead spots in their proposed network. First launch is expected in 2019 with full deployment by 2027. OneWeb has the backing of the Airbus Group, Blue Horizon, Virgin Group, and others and recently raised more than $1.7 billion for the venture.

Boeing’s plans include the launch of nearly 3,000 Internet-access satellites which will orbit at altitudes of 970, 1,034, and 1.086 kilometers above the Earth at 45, 55, and 88-degree inclinations. The first 1,396 are planned for deployment within 5 years, and the balance, based on demand, to be in place no later than 2029.

Will these competing networks interfere with each other? So far the companies have communicated with each other and will adjust orbits and inclinations accordingly in an effort to avoid conflicts.

For the moment, however, SpaceX is first to market and that gives them an enormous advantage.