Elon Musk successfully engages in the field of providing Internet with space satellites

What is the reason for Elon Musk to take SpaceX into a race that most predecessors have given up?

When last week, SpaceX succeeded in launching two new communications satellites, Elon Musk - SpaceX's CEO has officially put his company into a space race that before, a lot of businesses. career failed.

Billions of dollars have evaporated in the mission of providing Internet services to Earth's low orbit area. We have Globalstar Inc and Iridium Communication Inc even though we have declared bankruptcy but still try a little, we also have companies backed by Bill Gates, Boeing but also failed.

Elon Musk officially brought his company into a space race that many businesses had failed before.

"Nothing has changed since then, except for those who are excited when they hear about this project and unrealistic expectations," said analyst Roger Rusch in a session. interview. He is the former president of TelAstra Inc.

SpaceX of Musk, OneWeb of Greg Wyler, Boeing, Canada's Telesat are companies that have asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide broadband services through satellite systems . But Mr. Rush said that if these companies want to enter this race, they must overcome technological obstacles.

Low-orbit-based service systems need complex software to be able to run a satellite network, besides the ground antenna system that can handle this project. The cost will soon go up, Mr. Rusch concluded.

The two satellites successfully launched last week by Elon Musk are all tested.

sateBoeing is applying for 60 satellites, and last year, the FCC allowed OneWeb to use a network of 720 satellites to provide services in the US.

And SpaceX, initially their project "only" needed 4,425 satellites, but recently they applied for a total of 7,518 satellites. The FCC chairman Ajit Pai backed Musk's offer, most likely that the FCC would allow SpaceX to launch the giant satellite.

The two satellites successfully launched last week are all tested. John Taylor, a spokesperson for SpaceX, said this in his statement email: "Even if these satellites operate as expected, we still have a large amount of technical work ahead, to We design and implement low-orbit satellite systems ". It will provide high-speed Internet service for less-populated areas (meaning less service areas). This statement does not include the cost of SpaceX service.

Low orbital satellites have an advantage: it is obvious that getting closer and receiving better broadband signals.

Low-orbit satellites will operate at about 80 to 2000 km above the ground, every 90 minutes it will complete a circle around Earth's orbit. Traditional communication satellites operate at much higher altitudes, about 36,000 km above the ground and are almost suspended in a certain position, by an orbit of it that matches the Earth's rotation.

Low orbiting satellites have an advantage: it is obvious that the closer they receive and the better the broadband signal, the less "lag" . The chairman of the Satellite Industry Organization, Tom Stroup, said this: "We have passed the test phase long ago. We are approaching the next generation of satellites . " Not only satellites, but many experts say that the ground system is also more advanced and cheaper.

Not only cheap satellites, cheap ground systems, but also rocket launchers that bring satellites to orbit are also cheap. All thanks to SpaceX. By recycling missiles, they reduce the cost of each piece of equipment out of space so much. Two satellites just launched last week are just the first step in Musk's ambitious plan: providing the Internet to the globe.

He himself said that this system costs about 10 billion to 15 billion USD to complete, even more. But once it goes into operation, it will bring SpaceX an amount of money. The money itself will be a fund for Musk to build a city on Mars.

Musk said that this system costs about 10 billion to 15 billion USD to complete.

Another company participating in this service race is OneWeb. They are currently working with Airbus to build satellite systems in France and Florida, USA. This project has attracted investments from Qualcomm, Virgin Group and SoftBank Group. Intelsat satellite company plans to provide services to OneWeb once OneWeb completes its system, scheduled for 2020.

This year, OneWeb will launch a satellite launch and is expected to have a launch every 3 to 6 weeks. A project that founder and president of OneWeb, Greg Wyler called "a bridge connecting the divided digital areas will be completed in 2027".

Not everything is smooth, the future of this service is still turbulent: It must be based on the purchasing power and the amount of money customers are willing to spend. Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Vincent Chan, said: "The project is technologically efficient, which does not mean that it is also financially efficient. Anyone in Africa is willing to pay $ 100 a month for translation. If this is $ 10, they will be able to handle it.

Tom Stroup is confident in the future of these projects.

"The final winner of all these projects will still be consumers. They will have many choices between a broadband satellite market like this."