Satellite Internet

In Context

• Reliance Jio has teamed up with SES, a global satellite provider, to launch Satellite broadband services in India.

About

• Satellite Broadband will account for 50 per cent of the global space economy by 2040, Morgan Stanley Report.
• Other Similar Projects in the race: Bharti Airtel Ltd’s OneWeb, Starlink Network project of Elon Musk.
• Currently, fibre optic cables or wireless networks through mobile towers provide internet services.
• JV will use multi-orbit space networks, a combination of GEO (geostationary equatorial orbit) and MEO (medium earth orbit) satellite constellations.

What is Satellite Broadband?

• The technology beams the internet down from a satellite that’s orbiting the Earth.
• It typically communicates with the satellites either in geostationary orbit or Lower Earth Orbit.
• Aim: To provide space internet services at a low cost to every inaccessible terrain.
• GEO and LEO satellites are considered to be the two extremes in satellite communications. 
• Advantages and disadvantages of GEO, MEO and LEO:
  • GEO satellites provide a larger coverage and therefore only three satellites can cover the whole earth, hundreds of LEO satellites are needed to provide coverage to a larger area. 
  • LEO satellites are smaller and are cheaper to launch than GEOs or MEOs.

Advantages

• Bring seamless connectivity where fibre connections just can’t reach (hills and remote islands).
• Bridge the digital divide gap in the country & help in India’s Digital India mission.
• Helps in effective navigation and military surveillance
• Effective service delivery & less dependence on infrastructure creation
• Less Latency & easy access
• New economic avenues  

Downsides

• An increase in Space debris & risk of collisions of satellites (Kesseler Syndrome)
• Infrastructure access & digital illiteracy
• High initial cost
• Possibility of space warfare, might causes disruptions

Source: IE