From what it is, to what SpaceX's part in it is, to what it could mean for the future
of space travel, and more! Join me as we explore why SpaceX is making Starlink!
SpaceX, created by Elon Musk, is aiming to do a lot of things in the world and beyond
right now, including their efforts to put humanity on Mars. But, in the early parts
of 2019, they started launching rockets into space for another reason. Mainly, they launched
satellites to start up their Starlink program. What is Starlink? Well, believe it or not,
it's a program that is meant to be used to help bring the internet to people all over
the world, including bringing very high-quality internet to people in the most isolated parts
of the world. Furthermore, to nations like the US, the intent is to boost the internets'
power so that there will be no latency issues. All you'll have to do when the internet is
"up" is get a special antenna that SpaceX is developing.
Fast forward to March of 2020, and Elon Musk has now gotten 360 of these satellites into
space. That number is significant because once it reaches 400 satellites he'll be able
to do a test with some minor coverage over North America. Once he gets to 800 satellites
he'll be able to push that to moderate coverage over the continent. Plus, with each successful
launch he's continuing to test his Falcon rockets and their payload capabilities which
will help him during the Mars missions in the future.
If you're curious as to how many satellites he has planned for the Starlink project to
get true worldwide coverage, that would be 12,000. Which of course he plans to distribute
over the next decade or so. It'll take a while, but should it work, it could be a huge deal.
Now, you might be thinking, "Wouldn't this kind of satellite launching, and network connectivity,
and computing power cost all sorts of money?" Yes, yes it would. It's going to cost Musk
and SpaceX billions of dollars to get this to work, and obviously, there is no guarantee
that it'll work the way that Musk hopes. So to that end, why is Musk going through all
the trouble of trying to get Starlink up and running?
Let's start back at the beginning for this, ok? This all started in 2015, when Musk took
the stage and announced that they were working on a satellite communications network. Why?
Because he believed that there was "a significant unmet demand for low-cost global broadband
capabilities." To further help with this goal, Musk and his
team opened up a new base of operations in Redmond, Washington in order to help them
get the satellites built. Which you would think would be a sign that they had a good
plan and that they were going to implement it as soon as possible, right? Well...yes
and no. The original plan for Starlink was that they
were going to build two prototype satellites, launch them into space, and then test how
the reception and broadband signal was. There was just one big problem. While building the
satellites were easy enough, making a receiver that people could use to both connect with
the satellites, and having it be a "low cost" one...wasn't so easy. Because of this, instead
of launching the satellites in 2016 as intended, they didn't launch until 2018.
Specifically, February 2018 when the two satellites, called Tintin A & B were indeed launched into
space, and they were successfully communicating with the Earth stations down below. This test
allowed SpaceX to both ensure that their plan would work, while also refining certain elements
to help make sure that everything would be ok for those who aren't tech savvy. After
all, if you make something complicated to use, no one will want to use it, am I right?
Anyway, with THIS success, you'd expect a big celebratory thing to happen, right? Except,
it didn't, not then at least. SpaceX was unusually quiet about everything going on with Starlink
until November 2018 when the FCC approved their launching of the full 12,000 satellite
grid. A huge win for SpaceX and Elon Musk, because without that approval, they wouldn't
have gotten their worldwide grid goal. Once that approval was made, the preparations
for the launch of the satellites began. Then, in May 2019, the first 60 satellites were
launched, and they were done in such a way that you could actually see them in space
going into their various positions if you were in the right spot to look.
These satellites are doing more than you think though. They're not just there to be in the
sky to help out with internet connection, or no, they do more than that. They also have
ion thrusters that'll allow them to navigate the rather heavy-laden atmosphere of our planet
(which is loaded with space junk) as well as take themselves out of orbit when the time
comes for their replacements to arrive. SpaceX has even gone out of their way to make
sure that the space debris potentially caused by the 12,000 satellite grid is minimal. Which
is good because it's literally a minefield up in our atmosphere, so much so that people
literally had to make a predictive algorithm for the space junk so that satellites, spacecraft
and more can avoid it all and not risk damaging themselves.
If you're curious, they showed the FCC that as long as nothing bad happens, they'll be
able to burn up 95% of the satellite as it re-enters the atmosphere.
Before we dive more into Starlink , be sure to like or Dislike the video , that way we
have a feedback to improve our work, and subscribe to the channel! That way you don't miss ANY
of our weekly videos! Ok, so we know that the satellites are meant
to help bring good broadband internet to the world, especially to those who don't have
it right now. And we know how they're getting into space and how they'll survive up there.
But how exactly do the satellites work in terms of their communications functions?
Well, in truth, SpaceX has tried to keep very tight-lipped on that, mainly because...they
don't want other people to steal their work. A very understandable reason on the whole.
However, thanks to a certain FCC filing that they were forced to make to get approval,
we do know certain details. Such as how they have chips on the satellites that indicate
that there will be at least 5 laser systems on them.
"But aren't lasers offensive weapons?" Yes, if in the right amount and power levels, but
lasers are also used to transmit information. And the lasers here will beam pulses of light
from one to the other to convey information and thus help provide fast internet speeds.
How does that work? Ok, do you know about the speed of light? Like the actual speed
of light? Good. Now, on Earth, the speed of light works and doesn't work depending on
what's going on. Obviously, in regards to certain beams of light, it travels its actual
light speed. However, when it comes to certain objects and materials, it actually is hampered.
For example, light going through glass does NOT travel at lightspeed, but rather, 40%
slower. Which won't be a problem with the satellite grid because the lasers will be
going directly to one another, and they'll be doing it in the vacuum of space. Thus,
the Starlink grid will allow for much lower latency across longer distances, and thus,
better internet for many. This is what many people think will be the
"money maker" for Starlink because having the best internet and as little latency as
possible is a "must-have" thing for many people. Especially those who rely on the internet
for their working environment. Now, this isn't to say that there will be
NO latency issues, as the Starlink program is going to have to deal with its own problems
and issues. But, it'll be a lot less complicated and latent than what we're using now with
fiber optic cables that give us our internet reach currently. The biggest issue is going
to be the connection of the satellite grid. As we noted, there are going to be 12,000
of these across the sky. Do you know why that is? It's not just to ensure that the entire
world (more or less) is covered, but because when it comes to these devices, their range
in terms of scanning the Earth for internet signals is small in the context of the Earth.
So thus, all 12,000 of them are covering a section of the Earth as they're in orbit around
the planet. So, if you wanted to send a signal from London
to New York, the satellites will have to bounce a laser signal off of each other in order
to reach the right ones to get the information and then bounce off of even more satellites
to get the signal back to sender. Now, talking this all out may make this seem
like an overly complicated and elaborate process. But, when you're dealing with lasers moving
the speed of light, then this gets more simple. The only real complication is going to be
aiming, as you're aiming a laser at a satellite moving a certain speed and having to hit a
certain part of the satellite to get the confirmation going and all that. I'm sure Elon Musk has
it worked out though, or will have it worked out by the time the entire grid has gone up.
That's why the upcoming test of the North American grid is going to be so important.
There are no doubt going to be glitches, that's just how things work, so the SpaceX team will
use that to go and make things better so that when it's time to go global, they know what
to expect. "But what really is the point of lower latency?
Will we REALLY see a difference?" Well, that depends on your internet provider
right now, and that's just the honest truth. Sure, for the average Joe and Josafine, you
won't notice much, and that's ok. But, think of people who have to deal with the stock
market, or other things where up to the minute, and even up to the second updates are critical
to make the best decisions and make key financial moves. So for groups like these, the Starlink
system could be a godsend for them in terms of making even more money for themselves.
And lest you think that Elon is only doing this to make money via these groups, you should
know that these groups have gone out of their way to get such services before, even making
their own private fiber optic cable to connect the US to the UK. What's more, Starlink will
be even faster in transmissions that cover greater distances. Such as if you wanted to
send a message from the UK to China. But if we're being honest here, Elon Musk
doesn't care about the money (or at least, it's not his primary goal) his goal honestly
is altruism. He wants the world to be connected through the internet. You'd think that by
2020 we would have a much better grasp on getting technology around the world, but that's
not true. About half of the worlds' population is offline, and that's a staggering number.
Starlink is truly made to help get that number down, even if it'll take some time and effort
to do so. For example, one of the ways that 3rd world countries will be able to get to
the internet is via a Starlink terminal. The cost? $200. That's a lot of money even in
the United States, but in places like South America, or Africa? It's a fortune. And you
might think that this is proof that this Starlink plan won't work.
The catch though is that this terminal is still cheaper than others like it on the market
right now. And with the help of certain charity groups, this could be bought and transported
to certain areas to help them get more connections with the world. It'll be a process, but it
could indeed work. Then, there's the profit. Which I know we
said Elon doesn't need the money, but that doesn't mean SpaceX doesn't. If the plan goes
through, and everything works like it should, Elon's Starlink program could bring in about
$30-$50 billion dollars a year just from the stock market people buying into the system
as well as others. This is well over 10 times what SpaceX is making a year right now.
Why exactly does that matter? Simple, SpaceX is trying to be more than your next internet
provider, they're trying to take us into space! But to do that, they need money. Elon and
other investors got the ball rolling and their efforts speak for themselves. But, if they
were able to get fully self-funded via Starlink, they can put more money and time and efforts
into getting us into space! All this money could be put into the Mars
colonization program, which is Elon's dream right now in many ways. And with the extra
money, they can do more tests and experiments on how to go and make things better for humanity
by making faster ships, better colony vessels and more.
So in a way, by trying to make Starlink work right now and in the next few years, Elon
is helping ensure the future of SpaceX and the innovations that they're trying to make.
And that's a pretty cool thing. Thanks for watching everyone! What did you
think of this look into Starlink and SpaceX's goal for it? Are you surprised that this satellite
grid is meant to bring internet to the world at large? Do you think once fully functional
it'll do exactly that? Let me know in the comments below, be sure to like or Dislike
the video, and I'll see you next time !