OneWeb Announces Plans to Launch a New Satellite Constellation (shortened)

Business Wire ^ | January 15, 2015 05:00 AM Eastern Standard Time | businesswire.com

[Utilizer]

OneWeb Announces Plans to Launch a New Satellite Constellation to Bring High-Speed Internet to Underserved Areas Around the World (Full Title)

WorldVu Satellites Limited, operating as OneWeb, Ltd, today announced plans to build, launch and operate a low-earth-orbit satellite constellation to help bring high-speed Internet and telephony to billions of people around the world. Qualcomm Incorporated and The Virgin Group have been announced as initial investors, with Qualcomm Executive Chairman Dr. Paul Jacobs and Virgin Group Founder Sir Richard Branson to join OneWeb founder Greg Wyler on the company's board of directors. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed. OneWeb plans to bring in additional investors to fund construction, launch and operation of its system.

According to the International Telecommunications Union, as of the end of 2014, more than half the world’s population lacks Internet access. OneWeb, founded in 2012 under the name WorldVu, hopes to bring high-speed Internet and telephony to people living in underserved areas. The OneWeb satellite system introduces the first-ever telecom-class micro satellites. This projected fleet of 648 micro satellites is intended to provide low-latency, high-speed Internet access directly to small user terminals deployed around the world.

[Utilizer]

The future of the internet? Not sure about this concept, as our orbitals are already full of a lot of hardware. Plus, I am not certain how long the lifespan of a MicroSat is currently at. Four or five years tops, I believe. Does that mean that the company needs to keep replenishing them? And what about the constant outlay to keep launching replacements. Then there is the reported attempt to keep 2400 total new MicroSats (projected -could be more later on) and I think getting into space and back in one piece could become quite probematical.

[UCANSEE2]

[Utilizer]

*laugh* Yes, that’s pretty much how it looks up there now, as anyone who cares enough to look or whose business requires dealing with it already can verify.

[kosciusko51]

From the "Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy":

"Space," it says, "is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space, listen..."

While this is a little out of date, there are about 1100 satellites in space.

These vary in size, with the largest being the ISS, but many are the size of a large vehicle. Imagine only 1100 cars on the surface of the earth. The mean distance between these cars would be about 700 miles. Now go into space, with low earth orbit, medium earth orbit, and geosynchronous orbit, and the mean distance is much more than 700 miles.

So it is not really LA traffic in space, yet.

[Paradox]

I figured someone would do something like this soon. HughesNet operates in a geosync orbit, and that introduces lots of latency.

[familyop]

Might end up with very large numbers of people in “developed” countries subscribing as people in “undeveloped” countries for the low rates.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

to Bring High-Speed Internet to Underserved Areas Around the World

I read that quickly and saw 'undeserved'. Funny. Must be the capitalist in me.

[Utilizer]

Latency has always been a major drawback for sat transmissions, however in this case you have no capability to transmit up to the sat and can only receive what it broadcasts. Pretty much like a common WeatherSat, actually. Plus, a group of 2400 new satellites to be launched and maintained? It’s already a pain to try to insert into orbit without contacting a crunchy. Not impossible but an ongoing concern nonetheless.