{"id":46865,"date":"2022-08-01T01:47:05","date_gmt":"2022-08-01T01:47:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/08\/01\/starlink-why-is-elon-musk-launching-thousands-of-satellites\/"},"modified":"2022-08-01T01:47:05","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T01:47:05","slug":"starlink-why-is-elon-musk-launching-thousands-of-satellites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/08\/01\/starlink-why-is-elon-musk-launching-thousands-of-satellites\/","title":{"rendered":"Starlink: Why is Elon Musk launching thousands of satellites?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Elon Musk’s SpaceX company has put thousands of satellites into orbit. Many people say they saw them in the sky. <\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

They are part of the Starlink project, which aims to bring high-speed internet services from space to remote areas of the earth. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Starlink offers Internet services through a vast network of satellites. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

It is aimed at people who live in remote areas and cannot get high-speed internet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“There are people in the UK in that category, but more around the world, in places like Africa,” says Dr. Lucinda King, Space Projects Manager at the University of Portsmouth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Starlink’s satellites were placed in low Earth orbit to make link speeds between the satellites and the ground as fast as possible.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

However, a large number of low-level satellites are needed to provide full coverage of the globe. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Starlink is believed to have launched about 3,000 of them into space since 2018. 10,000 or 12,000 may be used, says Chris Hall.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Using satellites solves the problem of connecting to remote locations in deserts and mountains,” he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“It circumvents the need to build massive amounts of infrastructure like cables and pylons to reach those areas.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Compared to standard internet providers, Starlink does not come cheap. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

It charges customers $99 per month (\u00a389 per month in the UK). The dish and router needed to connect to the satellites cost $549 (\u00a3529 in the UK). <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

However, 96% of UK households already have access to high-speed internet, as do 90% of EU and US households. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Most of the developed world is already well connected,” says Professor Sa’id Mosteshar of London University’s Institute of Space Policy and Law. “They rely on a small share of the market for revenue.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The company says it has 400,000 subscribers across the 36 countries it currently covers – mostly in North America, Europe and Australasia. This applies to both households and companies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Next year, Starlink plans to further expand its coverage to Africa and South America, as well as Asia – regions of the world where Internet coverage is more patchy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Starlink’s prices, for example, could be too high for many households in Africa,” says Chris Hall. “But it could play an important role in connecting schools and hospitals in remote areas there.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

As Russian forces advanced in Ukraine, they shut down Ukrainian internet services and attempted to block social media. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Elon Musk made Starlink available immediately after the invasion of Ukraine began. Around 15,000 sets of Starlink dishes and routers were shipped to the country<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Starlink has kept things going, like public services and government,” says Chris Hall. “The Russians haven’t found a way to disable it.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

It was also used on the battlefield.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Ukrainian armed forces use it for communication – for example between headquarters and troops in the field,” says Dr. Marina Miron, Researcher in Defense Studies at Kings College London.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Its signals cannot be jammed like ordinary radio signals, and it only takes 15 minutes to set up the kit.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In addition to Starlink, competitors such as OneWeb and Viasat, which also operate satellite internet services, are launching thousands of satellites into low-Earth orbit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

That will lead to problems, says Sa’id Mosteshar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“This makes space increasingly unsafe in terms of collisions,” he says. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Satellites could hit other ships and leave wreckage behind, which in turn could do a lot more damage at high speeds.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

There have been a number of near misses involving Starlink satellites recently, including near misses involving China’s space station. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“If there are too many fragments, it could make low-Earth orbit useless in the future,” says Dr. King from Portsmouth University. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“And we may not be able to get from low Earth orbit to higher orbits where our navigation satellites and telecommunications satellites are located.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Starlink’s satellites are also causing problems for astronomers. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

At sunrise and sunset they can be seen with the naked eye because the sun glistens on their wings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

This can cause streaks in telescopic images and affect the view of stars and planets. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Astronomers recognized the problems early on,” says Professor Mosteshar. “They were the first to complain.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n