![]() ![]() Satellite technology has advanced demand for bandwidth has soared, with no slowdown in sight and companies have developed creative business models to generate profits from connectivity. The recent failures of LeoSat and OneWeb reinforce that impression.īut much has changed over the past 20 years. After that experience, many industry analysts and investors remain skeptical about the viability of large LEO constellations. In the end, however, all but Iridium scaled back or canceled their intended constellations because of high costs and limited demand. Globalstar, Iridium, Odyssey, and Teledesic had impressive plans. ![]() The ambitions for the large LEO concepts may recall the 1990s, when several companies tried to provide global connectivity. Even if the most ambitious plans do not come to pass, the satellites will be manufactured and launched on an unprecedented scale. If current satellite internet proposals become reality, about 50,000 active satellites will orbit overhead within ten years. But now nongeosynchronous-orbit (NGSO) communications constellations, including low-Earth-orbit (LEO) and medium-Earth-orbit (MEO) satellites, are taking to the skies, and their number could soon soar. Historically, satellite communication involved geosynchronous (GEO) spacecraft-large systems that have become increasingly capable over the years. We supplemented this information with data about launches through March 2020. 1 UCS Satellite Database, Union of Concerned Scientists, December 16, 2019,. More than 2,500 active satellites now orbit the Earth, and amateur astronomers and other observers are seeing more every month. ![]()
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