What is satellite internet? satellite internet

Since the 1980s, satellite Internet has a development history of nearly 40 years. After going through the first stage of direct competition with terrestrial mobile communication networks, and the second stage of supplementing and backing up terrestrial communication networks, satellite Internet will enter a new stage of integrated development with terrestrial communication networks. Compared with traditional terrestrial Internet, satellite Internet has the advantages of wide coverage, fast transmission rate, and strong anti-interference ability. It can provide high-speed and stable Internet services to remote areas, oceans, aviation, railways and other areas that cannot be accessed through traditional networks.

The development of satellite Internet services is of great significance to promoting the digital economy and promoting informatization construction. It can provide e-commerce, online education, medical and health services to rural areas, helping farmers increase their income and improve their quality of life. At the same time, satellite Internet can also provide communication support for aviation, aerospace, marine operations and other fields, improving their work efficiency and safety. In addition, satellite Internet technology has the characteristics of high bandwidth, low latency, and wide coverage, which can provide technical support for the innovative development of broadband Internet access services.

Composition of satellite internet

Satellite Internet refers to access to the Internet based on satellite communication technology, and its business can cover the world. Through large-scale networking of a certain number of satellites to build a constellation system with real-time information transmission capabilities, satellite Internet can provide end users with communication services mainly including broadband Internet access.

Satellite Internet generally consists of three parts: space segment, ground segment and user segment. The space segment is mainly a constellation system composed of several communication satellites, which is responsible for receiving and forwarding satellite signals and providing satellite signal coverage to users. The ground segment includes satellite measurement and control networks, gateway stations, etc., and mainly plays the role of connecting the satellite Internet and ground communication networks. The user segment includes various communication terminals used by users.

According to orbital altitude, satellites are mainly divided into three categories: low, medium and high orbit. See Table 1 for details. Among them, low-orbit satellites have the advantages of small transmission delay, low link loss, and flexible launch, and are very suitable for the development of satellite Internet services.

We’d showed an article about satellite orbit. You will click this link for learn further of basic knowledge of satellite orbit.

Table 1 Satellite orbit classification

Satellite orbit	Orbital altitude(Km)	Main application
LEO	300-2000	Earth observation, communications
MEO	2000-35786	Navigation
GEO	35786	Communications, navigation,Meteorological observations

Satellite Internet application scenarios

Satellite Internet mainly has the following four application scenarios:

Blind spot area network coverage

After the completion of satellite Internet, it can be an effective supplement to terrestrial communication networks such as 5G, providing communication services to areas with complex geographical environments (such as oceans, deserts, and remote mountainous areas, etc.), and providing Internet coverage to the airspace of civil aviation aircraft.

Military and foreign affairs communications field

Use satellite Internet for confidential communications in foreign affairs, as well as military communications such as military command, battlefield situation awareness, and space electromagnetic countermeasures.

Low-cost coverage in vast and sparsely populated areas

The use of satellites to provide Internet services in areas with wide geographical scope and low application density is cheaper and more convenient to construct than terrestrial communication networks composed of optical fiber and mobile communication base stations.

Major disaster emergency communications

In the event of earthquakes, tsunamis, fires and other major disasters that cause damage to the ground communication network, cross-regional network emergency communications can be achieved through satellite Internet.

The development status of satellite Internet

According to the Radio Regulations formulated by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), satellite orbit and spectrum resources are exclusive and timely, so there is a clear advantage of Satellite launch firstly in the construction of satellite constellations.

There is only one geostationary orbit, and all countries need to negotiate fairly for allocation; while other orbits (low orbit, medium orbit) must be allocated according to the principle of “first come, first served” for each country. According to data released by Saidi, the number of satellites that can be accommodated in low-Earth orbit is about 60,000. Considering only SpaceX’s Starlink, Amazon’s Kuiper, South Korea’s Samsung’s space Internet plan, and the UK’s OneWeb, the total planned The number of low-orbit satellites launched has exceeded 60,000. In addition, the Satellite Industry Association estimates that the number of commercial spacecraft in orbit will exceed 100,000 in 2029. Whether from an economic or national strategic perspective, the development of low-orbit satellites has become urgent.

According to International Telecommunications Union regulations, satellite operators must launch 10% of satellites within 2 years after the regulatory period for the first satellite to be put into use, launch 50% of satellites within 5 years, and deploy all satellites within 7 years. If the requirements are not met on time, it will be deemed to have given up the corresponding resource ownership.

In recent years, countries around the world have successively released satellite communication network construction plans, and commercial aerospace represented by the United States has developed rapidly. With the promotion and support of Internet giants such as Google and Facebook, innovative companies such as SpaceX in the United States and OneWeb in the United Kingdom have started to build constellation systems composed of low-orbit small satellites, actively seizing new resources for space Internet access, triggering a global craze.

According to public information on the International Telecommunications Union website, about one-third of the world’s population (about 2.6 billion people) is still not connected to the Internet. Especially in the least developed countries, two-thirds of the population (about 720 million people) are still “offline”. Faced with such a vast market, foreign high-tech companies such as Airbus, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and SpaceX have invested in the field of satellite Internet in recent years and proposed multiple satellite Internet plans such as Starlink and OneWeb. As of July 2023, Starlink has launched more than 4,800 satellites.

Satellite Internet development trends

Satellite communications are the core of the space economy, and the development of satellite Internet will show the following trends.

4.1 Satellite Internet construction rises to national strategy

Satellite Internet has become the focus of global attention with its increasingly prominent national strategic status, potential market economic value, and scarce space frequency orbit resources. Countries around the world have listed the construction of satellite Internet as a major national development strategy and have successively released satellite communication network construction plans.

4.2 Technological progress drives down satellite Internet construction costs

In terms of satellite development, from non-standardization to standardization, from customization to modularization, development costs have been effectively reduced; in terms of satellite launch, rocket launch and recovery technology has been innovative, and launch costs have been effectively controlled; in terms of satellite communications, with the Satellite communication bandwidth has been increased from hundreds of Mbit/s to Gbit/s, and network carrying capacity has been greatly improved.

4.3 The competition for air resources such as frequencies and orbits is becoming increasingly fierce.

The main allocation forms of orbit and frequency resources in current international rules are “first in, first served” and “fair planning.” Faced with limited frequency orbit resources and the deployment of constellations that often include thousands of satellites, countries are competing to lay out the satellite Internet ecosystem. circle, taking advantage of the opportunity of satellite Internet construction to seize the high ground of air and space resources.

4.4 The integration of satellite Internet and terrestrial networks is an inevitable trend

Compared with traditional terrestrial communication networks, satellite Internet has the advantages of wide coverage area and strong system robustness in the event of natural disasters, so it has become a hot development topic at this stage. However, compared with terrestrial communication networks (such as 5G networks), satellite Internet has disadvantages such as high communication delays and high service costs. It is difficult for satellite Internet to replace terrestrial communication networks in the short term. Judging from the current technology development trends, the integration of satellite Internet and terrestrial communication networks is one of the important development directions of future mobile communication networks.

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