Elon musk free internet satellite

[ali_asadzadeh]

Hi,
Is this feasible? any ideas?

[Rerouter]

The simplest way to see why this is very unlikely to ever be the case, Is ask, how much data can the bandwidth channels used for a comms satellite handle, and compare it with the coverage area of said satellite.

There are very few times the end result would not be something resembling mcdonalds wifi, where it takes 10 minutes to connect, and when you do, your lucky to get multiple digit bits per second.

[ataradov]

Even if it is feasible on a technological level, it will be banned by local governments around the world.

[NiHaoMike]

It's possible, in theory, to design a satellite to transmit many small beams instead of one large one, but putting that into space would be asking a lot. Ground based P2P solutions would be way easier to implement.

[rrinker]

 I must have missed this - what's he trying to do differently? We already have satellite internet services that beam directly to homes using the same small dishes used for satellite TV. Works reasonably well, too, faster than the absolutely useless "high speed" DSL I am using right now in a somewhat rural area. Only problem is the latency - fine as long as you aren't gaming.

[ali_asadzadeh]

Maybe he wanted to put these baby new FPGA's with several 400G Ethernet inside of them, though many countries would complain, but who cares as long as it's free

[Domagoj T]

Even if it is feasible on a technological level, it will be banned by local governments around the world.

Why would it not be feasible? I don't see anything fundamentally wrong with it. The only troubling aspect of it is the proposed number of sats, but then the guy is the CEO of a launch provider with highest number of launches in 2018.
Why would the governments around the world ban it? It's just another competitor in an existing (and not even new) market.

[ataradov]

Why would the governments around the world ban it? It's just another competitor in an existing (and not even new) market.

See what happened when Facebook tried to launch "free" internet in India.

You will have to play by all the local banning rules in places like China or Russia. And even then government will probably not be happy that THEY are not in control of the equipment that provides access. Imagine there is a revolution and the government wants to disable all the means of communication to stop it. Well, Musk may decide to open it even further. And there is nothing local government can do at that moment. So their only option is to not allow it at all.

[Domagoj T]

How is it different than any other satellite based internet service?

[ataradov]

How is it different than any other satellite based internet service?

Legal entity that provides the service is under control of the government. Even if satellite can broadcast for multiple countries, the only way to get the service is to register with a local ISP.

I assume Musk does not want to open a new ISP in each country just to handle the billing.

[Domagoj T]

He had to open offices in countries where Tesla wanted to sell cars. Those cars have to adhere to laws and regulations of countries they are being sold in.
I don't see why you would assume he plans to go full Robin Hood when it comes to this.

[ataradov]

We'll have see. Car regulations are more or less universal, and US and European ones are the strictest. So one you pass those, you are more or less good everywhere.

Telecom laws change all the time. It is not just a simple sales office. In Russia, for example, even local long term ISP have hard time dealing with block lists provided by the government and often things go wrong.

But even if he manages to get this to work in the US to begin with, it would be a great start.

[Domagoj T]

And if he can get it operational in US, Canada and EU, he's got most of the market covered. He also gets offshore stuff (oil rigs and ships) thrown in for free.
So, there are only three governmental bodies he needs to satisfy, and those are fairly reasonable.

[vk6zgo]

I was wildly excited until I realised you didn't mean "Internet free of Elon Musk".
Now I am bitterly disappointed! 

[Buriedcode]

It's great PR, promising internet to all, but apparently it requires.. 4425 satellites. Some sources claim 7000 http://time.com/5456083/elon-musk-spacex-satellites/

Assuming the operation life is what, 7 years?  that means at least 12 a week need to be put up there (19 is the upper figure).  That's 7 years until completion, and 12 satellites a week for its entire operational life.
Granted he could probably put up 40-50 at a time, but that is still a launch every 3 weeks until the projects end of life.  Not to mention how crowded it is up there, they would probably be required to have maneuvering capability, which increases their size/cost.  Its of course technically feasible, but like many things, is it practical? Also, it won't be free of course, who is paying?

[Bud]

Another stupid idea from Musk. Remember, he promised you starting sending tourists to Mars by 2019. He still has a few days to deliver. Any guess how this is going to end up? The CBC radio in Canada called him "full time visionary" for a reason.

[wraper]

Another stupid idea from Musk. Remember, he promised you starting sending tourists to Mars by 2019. He still has a few days to deliver. Any guess how this is going to end up? The CBC radio in Canada called him "full time visionary" for a reason.

Stop spreading bullshit he never said.

[Mr. Scram]

See what happened when Facebook tried to launch "free" internet in India.

You will have to play by all the local banning rules in places like China or Russia. And even then government will probably not be happy that THEY are not in control of the equipment that provides access. Imagine there is a revolution and the government wants to disable all the means of communication to stop it. Well, Musk may decide to open it even further. And there is nothing local government can do at that moment. So their only option is to not allow it at all.

There's not much they can do when those satellites are up there. Their only option would be to shoot down the things, which would cause way more of an international uproar than it's worth. Other countries aren't going to be amused by weapons being deployed against communications satellites.

[ali_asadzadeh]

They should be small boards, which they should be self contained, a card like the size of a graphic card which a few 400G Ethernet and multiple 5G connections, would not take that much space, so a rocket lunch could potentially take 100 units of them to space!

[Buriedcode]

They should be small boards, which they should be self contained, a card like the size of a graphic card which a few 400G Ethernet and multiple 5G connections, would not take that much space, so a rocket lunch could potentially take 100 units of them to space!

And don't forget power.  Sure the panels are folded for transport, but it will still increase the size.  And dont' forget there are already about 2000 comms satellites up there - if he does this he will be increasing this number 3 fold... so Tesla will "own" 60% of all satellites ?  It's just a mammoth project that will cost billions.  I'd like to see a cost comparison to providing connectivity to remote areas using other methods.

[wraper]

And dont' forget there are already about 2000 comms satellites up there - if he does this he will be increasing this number 3 fold... so Tesla will "own" 60% of all satellites

First of all it's Spacex, not Tesla. Secondly they already got FCC approval. And there aren't 2000 communication satellites.

According the UCS the main purposes for the operational satellites are:

Communications: 742 satellites
Earth observation: 596 satellites
Technology development/demonstration: 193 satellites
Navigation/Positioning: 108 satellites
Space science: 66 satellites
Earth science: 24 satellites
Space observation: 9 satellites

[Buriedcode]

About 3700 according to this article: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/idealab/satellites-earth-orbit including non-operational ones.

I just don't see how they are going to maintain the number of satellites required.  Especially if he is planning on providing internet for "free".

[Domagoj T]

Where does this "free" aspect come from?
This thread is the first time I see this claim. I vaguely remember the claim of "affordable", but not free.

[rdl]

I think it was said that only about 10% of the capacity will be for local internet service anyway, but none of it will be free. SpaceX needs the money if they're going to get to Mars any time soon.

Since SpaceX haven't launched any test flights to Mars yet, which is what Musk was hoping for back in 2016, it's a good bet that any commercial flight is at least 10 years away.

[ali_asadzadeh]

Elon likes AI, and AI likes lots of free Data, so that comes the free internet! try to see the big picture, the only way to compete with google and specially it's AI and it's AD services is providing free internet, then use some new search engine to collect data, train the AI and sell all kinds of things, starting from the ADS to AI services etc... the future is AI, and only giants can survive there