TECH TALK
THE FIRST WAR I IN SPACE
S UNDERWAY BY JOHN PAWLICKI | OPM RESEARCH
WHILE IT IS TRUE THAT THE FIRST “SPACE RACE” OCCURRED BACK IN THE COLD WAR, WITH THE USA AND THE SOVIET UNION EACH TRYING TO OUTDO EACH OTHER IN REACHING MILESTONES IN SPACE, THE CURRENT SPACE CONFLICT WILL HAVE MUCH MORE DRAMA. THIS TIME AROUND IT IS FOR SUBSTANTIAL SUMS OF MONEY INSTEAD OF NATIONAL PRIDE.
This corporate warfare between sets of deep-pocketed investors trying to outspend one another, and against competing/teaming with and against existing satellite operators is just beginning to take shape. The winners here will be consumers and businesses which will have access to better and cheaper broadband services while the market for expanded Internet services will continue to grow and develop. The never-ending demand for
ever-faster Internet connectivity and communications is increasing as our society becomes more dependent upon always-on smartphones and computers, and applications such as passengers in-flight entertainment (IFE), Internet-of-Things (IoT) sensors and devices (driven by businesses, governments, and consumers smart homes) and a move away from legacy communications to VOIP-based telephony, among countless other uses. The market for Internet connectivity is also reaching all
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DOMmagazine.com | nov 2019
corners of the earth, with new markets opening up in developing nations, as well as a broader base of users as a younger generation of consumers than ever before having cell phones and tablets which require near-constant access to the Internet. This translates to an increased need for nearly every person and many powered devices to gain access to the Internet. And this demand is not being met by communications companies already today, which is creating business opportunities for satellite-based broadband companies.
LEGACY SATELLITES VERSUS THE NEW MEGA CONSTELLATIONS
While in the not-too-distant past a majority of broadband connectivity was via some type of wired connection (fiber-optic or copper cables — remember being tethered to your Ethernet cable?), microwave communications (backhaul traffic between sites used by providers) and
then by cellular communications (2G, 3G, and 4G). Satellite communications were relegated to more business uses (primarily in remote geographic regions or due to transient nature of a vehicle or ship) due to the higher cost and slower throughput. This is no longer true. The latest satellite-based technologies now support multi- gigabit speeds and acceptable latency (the amount of delay, measured in milliseconds, which occurs in a round-trip data transmission) and can compete with or replace terrestrial networks. This technological advancement is driving demand which will be met by a new type of satellite business which significantly expands upon the legacy satellite operations of today. Recently, the FCC granted two companies licenses to launch mega constellations (fleets of hundreds or thousands of somewhat small satellites orbiting the planet at significantly lower altitudes than
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