Posted on 06/28/2017 4:51:45 PM PDT by Mechanicos
Thanks, I see that now, but unless they can get Ping times under 50ms then things like Skype, FaceTime, and gaming still won’t work well. I see they are trying for 30ms or so:
Was 550ms+ at geostationary altitude (22,000 miles) when I had my mom using the WildBlue sat. service...at low-Earth orbit (1,200 miles) they should get about 35ms according to my math. I have my mom (way out in the “boonies”) on cellular data/ISP now (”hotspot” device)...since 4G LTE has arrived in her area it has improved to at least 20 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up. I think the upcoming 5G LTE cellular might render this new satellite system obsolete before it time?? (Except for people w/o even cell service. (Waaaay out in the boonies).
They (OneWeb) plans to use Richard Branson’s Virgin/Scaled Composites “LauncherOne” to get the sats (hundreds) into LEO at a “reasonable” cost:
https://www.dslreports.com/shownews/132319
It’s awfully crowded up there.
“As of 5 July 2016, the United States Strategic Command tracked a total of 17,852 artificial objects in orbit above the Earth,[1] including 1,419 operational satellites.[2] However, these are just objects large enough to be tracked. As of July 2013, more than 170 million debris smaller than 1 cm (0.4 in), about 670,000 debris 110 cm, and around 29,000 larger debris were estimated to be in orbit.[3] Collisions with debris have become a hazard to spacecraft; they cause damage akin to sandblasting, especially to solar panels and optics like telescopes or star trackers that can not be covered with a ballistic Whipple shield (unless it is transparent).”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_debris
I’m on Gen 5 satellite because it’s the only real option in my area. I guess that’s considered “sky based internet”.
The “method” may be the same, but the program I was referring to is not, neither has it been given any budget for it yet, neither can it use budgeted money from any other program - until and if Congress authorizes it.
In other words, can One Web “cash in” on the federal monies for/from the “Obamaphone” scheme? No. Not unless Congress devises a budget that moves money that way.
That leaves the One Web plan approval by the FCC as a plan that is not yet soaking in federal monies, it just has FCC approval as a commercial telecom plan. We’ll have to see what Congress first “Trump” budget actually gives it, if anything.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.