How does the Starlink system work?
Today we live in the era of the internet. The Internet has changed the way we live and interact
with each other. It has brought education, entertainment, comfort and even democracy.
Imagining a world without the internet is hard. We are able
to make this video and get it our favorite subscribers, only because of the internet.
But did you know that almost 50% of the world still does not have access to the internet?
That seems strange right? But it’s the truth. To counter this and make the internet accessible to
everyone on earth, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is launching Starlink Satellites which plan to provide global
internet coverage. But How does the internet work from space? How can starlink satellites provide
internet service from space? Will they transform our world? Let’s talk about all that and more.
Starlink is a global initiative by SpaceX to create a global broadband network by using a
constellation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to provide high-speed internet services. This
system is ideally suited to provide internet coverage in rural and geographically isolated
areas where internet services do not exist. Starlink uses satellite internet service
technology that has been around for decades. Instead of employing cable technologies like fiber
optics to deliver internet data, a satellite system sends radio signals across space.
Ground stations provide signals to satellites in space, which then transfer the information
to Starlink users on Earth. The goal of Starlink is to create low latency internet all across the
world. However Starlink isn’t the only company today in the competition of providing internet
via satellites. Oneweb, Amazon Kuiper, Viasat etc are all targeting this new thriving market.
But SpaceX edges past everyone because of the following reasons. Starlink employs thousands
of tiny satellites rather than a few huge ones. Starlink employs LEO satellites that orbit the
Earth at only 300 miles above sea level. This reduced geostationary orbit increases
internet speeds and decreases latency. The most recent Starlink satellites contain
laser communication parts that allow signals to be sent between satellites,
minimizing reliance on several ground stations. In the near future, SpaceX plans to launch up to
40,000 satellites, assuring worldwide and distant satellite coverage with fewer service disruptions.
Starlink has the benefit of being a subsidiary of SpaceX, which, in addition to launching Starlink
satellites, also undertakes partner launches on a regular basis. Due to the significant costs
involved, other satellite internet providers may be unable to arrange frequent satellite launches.
Despite various big achievements by SpaceX with their starship or crew dragon programs,
Starlink remains the most frequently launched project by SpaceX. Elon Musk recently stated
that SpaceX plans to do a Falcon 9 launch every week and most of them might do Starlink launches
if not any major missions. Even the upcoming starship launch vehicles will be used to launch
bigger batches of starlink satellites and upcoming starlink 2.0 versions in the future. So, how do
satellite mega constellations like Starlink work? And why do they need so many darn satellites?
The starlink satellites are smallsat-class cubsesats of about 100 to 500 kg mass,
and are launched in Low Earth Orbit at an altitude of about 600 kilometers only.
SpaceX launched their first batch of 60 starlink satellites back in May 2019, each weighing around
230 kg. The initial plan of SpaceX was to launch a satellite constellation made up of
4000 cross linked satellites. That number today has increased much more. The technology behind
starlink is even more amazing. According to the US FCC, the satellites use optical inter-satellite
communications, digital processing technology in the Ku and Ka bands and phased array beamforming.
While details of the phased array technology were revealed as part of the frequency application,
SpaceX maintained secrecy on the optical inter-satellite links.
The Early Starlink satellites did not have laser connections.
In late 2020, the inter-satellite laser connections were successfully tested.
In a recent interview Elon shared his plan to mass produce starlink satellites at a far cheaper cost
per unit. "We're going to try to accomplish for satellites what we've done for rockets,"
Musk stated. "We must address both satellites and rockets in order to change space." Smaller
satellites are essential for reducing the cost of space-based Internet and communications",
said Elon. Because SpaceX is a new player in the satellite communications industry, SpaceX
requested the FCC in February 2015 to explore potential creative applications of the Ka-band
spectrum before committing to 5G communications regulations that might impose obstacles to entry.
SpaceX's non-geostationary orbit communications satellite constellation will operate in
high-frequency bands above 24 GHz, "where steerable Earth station transmit antennas
would have a wider geographic impact and significantly lower satellite altitudes
magnify the impact of aggregate interference from terrestrial transmissions." The minimal
theoretical round-trip delay for Internet transmission through a geostationary satellite
is 477 milliseconds, although contemporary satellites have latencies of 600 ms or higher.
Starlink satellites orbit at 1105 to 130 times the height of geostationary orbits, providing more
feasible Earth-to-sat latencies of 25 to 35 ms, comparable to existing cable and fiber networks.
The system will employ a peer-to-peer protocol that is said to be "simpler than IPv6," as well
as end-to-end encryption. For orbit raising and station holding, Starlink satellites
employ Hall-effect thrusters using krypton gas as the reaction mass. When compared to a
comparable electric propulsion system operated with xenon, krypton Hall thrusters demonstrate
much higher flow channel erosion, although krypton is far more common and has a lower market price.
That is how the satellite constellation is designed to work. But the technology does
not connect directly from satellites to phones which is the case with various constellations
like Thuraya, Iridium, Inmarsat and Globalstar. Instead it uses flat user terminals the size of
a pizza box that follows the satellites using phased array antennas. The terminals must be
placed anyplace under the view of the sky. The first photographs of the antennas were
first sighted back in 2020, which Elon Musk asserted looks like a “UFO on a stick”.
This antenna is confusingly labeled as a "Starlink," but more generally referred to
as a “UFO on a Stick'' or "Dishy McFloatface." When it's cranked up, the self-pointing antenna
instantly scans the sky and latches onto the nearest overhead satellite — that is,
if the ambient temperature is below 122 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, it seamlessly maintains that
connection as each new Starlink satellite comes into view and the previous one fades beyond the
horizon. Starlink terminals have motors to self-adjust the best angle to view the night
sky and continuously maintain connection. SpaceX also maintains at least 32 ground stations in the
United States and has approvals for many more in future. Starlink uses the Ka-band to connect with
the ground stations. A normal Starlink ground station includes nine 2.86 meter antennas in
a 400 square meter fenced off area. SpaceX's ground stations, according to their filing,
would also be installed on-site at Google data centers around the world. As a result,
service is now reliant on a network of ground stations known as gateways. These stations are
positioned across the world and exchange signals with the Starlink satellites, tapping them into
existing fiber-optic infrastructure. So, a user's home antenna connects to a Starlink
satellite as it passes overhead, which in turn ties them into the nearby gateway. As a result,
in order to get service, customers must have a ground station within 500 miles of their location,
in addition to their own antenna. Things won't stay that way for long. Starlink developers have
previously experimented with a set of prototype satellites that communicate using lasers.
Rather than linking people to a local ground station, the lasers would allow satellites to
communicate directly at the speed of light, which is quicker in space than in fiber optic cables.
Once launched, a Falcon 9 launch vehicle deploys its batch of 60 Starlink satellites into an
initial "parking orbit" at around 270 miles (440 kilometers) above Earth. From there, the
individual satellites unfurl their solar panels and slowly start to spread out around the planet.
Each satellite also uses its rockets to progressively propel itself to a greater
height, rising into its eventual final orbit some 100 miles (160 km) above the
International Space Station's orbit. The satellites become dimmer as they ascend,
reflecting less sunlight back to Earth. In the past, communications satellites for
things like TV utilized much higher orbits. This is because sitting relatively far from
Earth makes them "visible" to satellite dishes across a larger geographical area.
Starlink will be able to solve high-speed internet problems in rural areas. And with
more and more starlink satellites launching in the future, almost all parts of the world will have
internet connectivity. Starlink satellites will even help with internet communications on mars
as in the future humanity might look to terraform the planet. So what do you think about Starling's
mega constellation? Will it be able to provide internet connectivity all over the world? Let
us know what you think in the comment section below and share the video with your friends!