Satellite connectivity

[speedrye]

If Starlink is like traditional satellite radio/TV and thwarted by rain, trees, etc, I'd rather have a slower, more reliable/resilient connection on a different wavelength that isn't as impacted by such things. I'd probably just use my phone hotspot for most things anyway, so when I'm out of cell range, I'd much prefer a more reliable signal that reaches through bad weather and trees.

A very quick search shows SiriusXM in the 2.3-2.4GHz range and Dish TV in the 12-18 GHz range, so I'm guessing Starlink's 10.7-12.7 GHz range will suffer the same problems.

 

[farmerforever]

My truck is a mobile office. The Starlink and the pics I've seen of the passenger side pull out table that can hold my Macbook have been features I've been waiting for as we get closer to launch!

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I want Space EV to comment on space debris and The Kessler Syndrome (and how real or imminent it could be)... I wonder what would happen if we lost GPS connectivity randomly around the globe - seems like we would have travel, security, occupational and other "issues"!

The Kessler Syndrome
Spent rockets, satellites and other space trash have accumulated in orbit increasing the likelihood of collision with other debris. Unfortunately, collisions create more debris creating a runaway chain reaction of collisions and more debris known as the Kessler Syndrome after the man who first proposed the issue, Donald Kessler. It is also known as collisional cascading.
This cascade of collisions first came to NASAs attention in the 1970’s when derelict Delta rockets left in orbit began to explode creating shrapnel clouds. Kessler demonstrated that once the amount of debris in a particular orbit reaches critical mass, collision cascading begins even if no more objects are launched into the orbit. Once collisional cascading begins, the risk to satellites and spacecraft increases until the orbit is no longer usable.
Kessler proposed it would take 30 to 40 years for such a threshold to be reached and today, some experts thing we are already at critical mass in low-Earth orbit at about 560 to 620 miles (900 to 1,000 kilometers).

Interesting opinion piece yesterday from the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...orbit-danger-zone/?itid=hp_opinions_p001_f019

Sorry, I didn’t see this; the tag didn’t alert me and I don’t have any interest in a satellite dish on my truck, so I haven’t been paying attention to this thread.

The Kessler Syndrome is real. And it’s imminent.
Space is BIG…(insert quote from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), and even Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is BIG.

But there are only a few useful orbital “planes” in LEO, so there are a lot of satellites being put into the same segments of LEO. The International Space Station has been hit by debris from other satellites. I haven’t tracked how many other satellites have failed due to space debris.

When something fails catastrophically, pieces of it get scattered in three dimensions, so some of it can end up out side of the orbit zone the original machine was occupying. And Kessler’s Syndrome is a real danger.

GPS connectivity is less in danger of space debris. They orbit at Medium Earth Orbit (MEO). Space is even bigger in that segment, and it’s a LOT more expensive to send stuff up to MEO than LEO, so bit players (private companies) can’t afford to send satellites up that high. Most of them don’t even have the know-how or capabilities to reach that high. And it’s not a useful orbital segment for most things private companies are attempting to do.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

If Starlink is like traditional satellite radio/TV and thwarted by rain, trees, etc, I'd rather have a slower, more reliable/resilient connection on a different wavelength that isn't as impacted by such things. I'd probably just use my phone hotspot for most things anyway, so when I'm out of cell range, I'd much prefer a more reliable signal that reaches through bad weather and trees.

A very quick search shows SiriusXM in the 2.3-2.4GHz range and Dish TV in the 12-18 GHz range, so I'm guessing Starlink's 10.7-12.7 GHz range will suffer the same problems.

Atmospheric water does impact everything operating in the 10-40 GHz.

At moderate rainfall (13 mm/hr), total attenuation of a signal in the 10-12 GHz is about 12 dB. That means the signal is only about 6% of the strength of its original source.

https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1829368/FULLTEXT01.pdf