Status: 06/30/2021 2:41 p.m.
Elon Musk is promoting its satellite-based Internet service Starlink. This could be an alternative for users in rural areas. But the costs and environmental risks are high.
From Angela Göpfert,
tagesschau.de
Elon Musk has big plans with Starlink: The current 69,000 beta users of the satellite-based Internet service are to become 500,000 paying customers within a year, announced the head of the space company SpaceX during a video switch at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
There are plenty of potential customers: According to calculations by SpaceX, the Starlink subsidiary should be able to supply most of the world with high-speed Internet from space as early as August 2021. The Starlink satellites fly in a very close orbit to earth, so they can bring the Internet signal to earth particularly quickly.
Fast surfing and smooth gaming fun
In fact, from a consumer perspective, Starlink – like any other Internet network – has to measure itself primarily against one criterion: latency. This is the period of time that a small data packet needs from a device (such as a smartphone or laptop) to a server on the Internet and back to the device.
In the telecommunications industry, low latencies are the holy grail as they guarantee the user a smooth Internet experience. A high latency, on the other hand, can drastically increase the loading times of websites. According to Musk, the Starlink Internet latency is 20 to 30 milliseconds. That is close to 5G or fiber optic cables. Fast surfing and smooth gaming fun are guaranteed.
An alternative for rural regions?
From Musk’s point of view, the low latency and high availability make Starlink a natural partner for mobile communications companies: They can take over customer care in remote regions for them. According to experts, people in rural areas could quickly get fast Internet that would otherwise have taken years to lay cables.
In Germany, Musk is already in talks with Telekom boss Timotheus Höttges. “I think this is a good technology to supply people who have not yet had any infrastructure,” said Höttges in January. “I am a great admirer of Elon Musk and his ideas.”
Starlink Internet: Fast, but Expensive
German private customers could, however, be particularly bothered by the price. The monthly connection fee for the satellite Internet is 99 euros. In addition, there are one-off costs of 499 euros for the starter set including hardware. On top of that, customers have to set up a satellite dish with a diameter of almost half a meter.
From Starlink’s point of view, this is still a bargain. After all, the terminals cost the company twice as much as Musk had to admit in the slot for the Mobile World Congress. In other words: With every customer terminal that SpaceX sells, the Californians make a loss of around $ 500.
The ultimate goal: not to go bankrupt
Against this background, Musk emphasized: “The ultimate goal is not to go bankrupt with Starlink.” That was only half a joke. After all, Musk is well aware of the risks involved in this business.
As early as February, he tweeted that every new satellite project in history had gone bankrupt. “We hope to be the first to not do that.” Musk needs the money from the Starlink business to advance the development of the SpaceX Starship rocket, which will enable transports to the moon and Mars.
In fact, some Starlink competitors have already pulled the rip cord. Rival Oneweb filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and could only be saved through partial nationalization.
Competition points to environmental risks
In general, the competition sees Musk’s advance into space very critically. In order to defend their benefices, companies such as Viasat, SES or Boeing also refer to environmental risks.
While the competition places their satellites in higher orbits, Starlink places its satellites in low orbits in the “Low Earth Orbit” (Leo). However, such Leo satellites burn up in the atmosphere after five to seven years. That could lead to the infamous Kessler syndrome.
Horror scenario Kessler syndrome
As early as 1978, NASA scientist Donald Kessler predicted a chain reaction caused by the growing number of objects in low-Earth orbits. This would make collisions inevitable, the debris would collide again with each other, and in the end a cloud of junk would fill the entire near-earth space. Space flights or the operation of satellites would then no longer be possible.
There are currently more than 1,700 Starlink satellites in the sky. The responsible US authority FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has so far approved the launch of a maximum of almost 12,000 satellites. Starlink has already submitted applications for up to another 30,000 satellites.