Since the former Soviet Union launched the Sputnik 1 satellite in 1957.
A new moon is in the sky.
More than 10,000 objects have been sent into space.
10,000 is actually a relatively small number, compared with what’s to come.
Go USA!
Beginninig in 2019, SpaceX has been using the Falcon 9 to put satellites into orbit for a global internet.
There we go, as they make their way off.
It has now launched nearly a thousand.
The plan is to put at least 12,000 Starlink satellites into orbit and the US Federal Communications Commission, the FCC, has given the green light for up to 42,000.
They will soon have some company as Amazon has plans to offer a competing service, dubbed Project Kuiper.
Leading Elon Musk to call the online retailer’s founder Jeff Bezos a copycat.
The billionaire entrepreneurs have the same game plan. They want to beam high-speed satellite internet to remote and rural areas on Earth.
Amazon has a lot of catching up to do. It hasn't launched any satellites, but it does have the means to get them there.
It just so happens that Bezos has another company, Blue Origin.
His space venture has yet to go into orbit but it has signed deals to launch satellites for Canada’s Telesat and the UK’s OneWeb using New Glenn.
The orbital rocket is set to fly for the first time in 2021.
Amazon plans to launch 3,200 satellites - roughly a quarter of SpaceX’s current goal. The FCC gave the go-ahead on the condition
that they don’t interfere with previously authorized projects, like Starlink.
But Amazon is worried that SpaceX might actually interfere with their satellites after Musk’s company wanted to move a batch of Starlinks to a lower orbit.
SpaceX will now operate all of its satellites at least a kilometer below Amazon’s to make sure there’s no interference.
Both companies are flying only 500 - 600 km away from our planet whereas current satellite networks are too far away,
sometimes tens of thousands of kilometers out. The closer they are to Earth, the lower the latency, which measures responsiveness and lag.
The time it takes between clicking on a keyboard and getting a response on screen.
A downside of being closer is you see less of the planet, so more satellites are needed.
SpaceX has already launched enough to beta test its service in the northern United States and parts of Canada.
Among the first private customers is a native American tribe in a remote part of Washington state.
They received a terminal the size of a pizza to connect to Starlink.
SpaceX says latency ranges from 20 to 40 milliseconds but expects that to fall below 20 as more satellites are launched.
That’s enough to have a good gaming experience.
It says data speeds ranging from 50 Mb/s to 150 Mb/s are expected to increase dramatically as well.
The current speeds are more than enough to stream a YouTube video in 4K.
Amazon also says it's been able to stream 4K video.
The company announced this antenna it developed connected to a satellite 50 times farther out than where its own satellites will be deployed.
Tests at its research facility in Redmond, Washington found the antenna can handle up to 400 Mbps
though it hasn’t said how good the internet connection will be.
The prototype is just a foot in diameter because the company explains it will be cheaper to manufacture and less expensive for the customer.
We don’t know how much Amazon’s service will cost, and whether it will be similar in price to Starlink.
Some people believe Starlink is too expensive.
The initial service is priced at $99 a month plus $499 (emphasize!) for the equipment.
Musk has said the most difficult technical challenge is bringing the price of the satellite dish down.
SpaceX does hope to attract customers globally. The plan is to expand coverage to nearly all parts of the populated planet in 2021.
Amazon also has ambitions to connect the world, starting with the US. When that will happen is still unclear.
In order to meet FCC requirements, Amazon has to get half of its satellites into orbit and operational by 2026, with the rest up and running three years later.
Besides beaming internet directly to customers, Amazon and SpaceX hope to provide backhaul solutions to telecom companies
so they can extend their 5G coverage to hard to reach places.
Building a satellite internet service takes a lot of effort and even more money.
Amazon says it’s investing more than $10 billion into Project Kuiper -
precisely the amount SpaceX’s COO Gwynne Shotwell once estimated would be needed to complete Starlink.
The upfront costs may be high, but the returns are expected to be far greater.
SpaceX could become a $100 billion dollar company thanks largely to Starlink, according to the investment banking giant Morgan Stanley.
Musk is counting on its success to help fund his quest to send people to Mars on this giant rocket, Starship.
As for Amazon, Kuiper could further expand Amazon’s worldwide customer base. The service could be bundled as part of a package under the Amazon umbrella.
Amazon Web Services already offers computing and storage to clients like Netflix. So the new internet could help move the data.
Despite the rivalry between Musk and Bezos, satellite internet could rake in billions of dollars for both of their companies.
And provide more choice for consumers.
No matter which internet provider you choose, you might run into a situation where you can’t access certain sites or videos.
That’s what happened to me when I tried to buy a bottle of Tesla Tequila only available in the US.
But I quickly remembered my sponsor NordVPN can help out.
I used NordVPN to change my IP address to an American one and made the purchase.
My brother is going to be very happy on Christmas day.
And by masking your real IP address, it protects your privacy, especially important in today’s connected world.
NordVPN has a special Christmas deal. If you buy a two-year plan, you’ll get four additional months free.
Head to nordvpn.com/newsthink and use the promo code: newsthink at checkout.
The link is in my description.
So, how much would you be willing to pay for Amazon's service?
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I'm Cindy Pom and I'll see ya next time.