/sci/ - Science & Math

>>10109318
not particularly. The satellites are still as big as a VW beetle. F9 can take like 40 at a time, I don't recall seeing calculations for BFR

With the upcoming microsat 2a & 2b launch let's discuss the SpaceX internet constellation codenamed Starlink.

>what is starlink?
A hueg network of LEO satellites for the purpose of providing internet everywhere. The initial constellation consists of 4,425 satellites and a second constellation of an additional 7,518.

>but why?
It'll make SpaceX hundreds of billions of dollars and fund future mars projects.

>how speedy are we talking?
1 Gbps per end user.

>but what about the latency?
25ms. LEO! Data travels at 1.0c in a vacuum. 0.7c in fiber-optics.

>Won't this take a fuckton of launches to establish?
Yes, 40 sats can fit in a standard f9 fairing. So.... 300 launches.

>But what about the weather?
Downlink is in the Ku band and uplink is in the Ka band, so severe weather would have a moderate impact on connectivity.

>How would one connect to the Starlink network?
You purchase a pizza-box sized phased array unit and pay a subscription fee.

>Yo, this seems pretty cool. Hit me up with some links
Okay!
http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/microsat-2.htm
https://apps.fcc.gov/els/GetAtt.html?id=185534&x=.. (FCC doc)
http://licensing.fcc.gov/myibfs/download.do?attachment_key=1158349 (FCC doc)
https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/15/17016208/spacex-falcon-9-launch-starlink-microsat-2a-2b-paz-watch-live