ABSTRACT
Starlink is the baby product of SpaceX and is primarily done to raise funds for the company so that it can utilize the money into launching more rockets. Basically, it is based on the satellite for its working days the internet service provider which uses satellite for its communication.
The only thing Starlink is trying to win over its competition is by offering a fast connectivity with relatively low latency. To achieve low latency as claimed by the SpaceX is physically impossible but they are getting very close and are making substantial progress day by day.
It is basically a cluster of satellites that are positioned together in a series of chain which provides seamless coverage over a large area of earth from LEO (Low Earth Orbit). In every release, a cluster of 60 satellites is launched along with other groups containing the same amount. SpaceX has been launching these satellites on their own rockets which saves a lot of money for the company as a whole.
If Elon Musk is trying to do it, I suppose it would be revolutionary.
Considering the amount of debris that is present in space, SpaceX has taken permission to launch as many as 42,000 satellites in the upcoming decade which is insane to think of. The only way they got this permission is through the promise that these tiny satellites will fall back to Earth and burn off during re-entry at the end of their life cycle and will not contribute to making more space debris.
The number of satellites currently present in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is around 2,200 and SpaceX is planning to launch 42,000 new ones, can you imagine the chaos they would be creating out there if something were to go wrong in the emptiness of space.
Why SpaceX is launching 42,000 satellites into Low Earth Orbit?
It turns out earth is massive at its surface because of a simple rule in geometry when the radius of a sphere increases so does the length of its circumference, the increase is exponential. So to cover all of the earth, SpaceX needs those many satellites working together to create a seamless experience for the users on the ground.
The only way SpaceX got permission to launch those many satellites is because SpaceX promised that these satellites will not last more than 10 years and will probably disintegrate under the massive heat during re-entry into the orbit of Earth.
What is Starlink trying to prove?
The primary aim of the system is to provide adequate internet connectivity with decent speed to remot and inhabitable places. It is not designed to provide internet connectivity to the large cities rather to places where optical fibers are hard to reach like in jungles and islands.
It is not that starling is breaking ground here because this technology has been done before and are being used by many people. The only thing here they’re doing better than their competitors is the low latency that they are promising over the other service providers. The Starlink has a better chance of selling because it has the name, Elon musk associated with it.
WHY SPACEX IS MAKING STARLINK?
Starlink is primarily made to make money to fund other rocket launchers in the future. It is estimated that it will generate about $5 billion in revenue which will be enough to fund their other programs. They are using the tried and tested method of providing internet to remote areas and trying to make money out of it. As a matter of fact, the internet services other than optical fibres are all dependent upon the technology that Starlink is using.
Space X has chosen satellite internet connectivity because competition is very less as well as the competitors are not very good. It is a market purely for that company who can make the journey with as little as possible through launching on rockets which cost less and SpaceX has thing mastered to their name.
Believers of Elon Musk are flocking to this opportunity to use something created by the genius. The only way they are able to do this is by launching these satellites on their own rocket which are usable, and thus better for the financial dependency of the company in every which way.
SPACE DEBRIS
Space debris is an international topic of concern. Scientists are working together to find a better way to make the low Earth orbit as clean as possible. The problem has become so severe that many governments are getting involved in this chronic situation.
Space debris doesn’t create any problems for humans on the surface of the earth because the particles when entering the earth atmosphere burn up during the re-entry phase and literally reduce to ashes. It primarily creates problems for the enormously expensive satellites present in the low Earth orbit, as many of the functions of the world are dependent upon those satellites and if they were to fail it would make a massive depletion in our day to day lives. Google maps and any other navigation providers are all dependent on these satellites, our communication via cell phones are all done by them, the entertainment business would come to a hault as for their distribution they are dependent upon the TVs.
This problem becomes exponentially complex when two satellites come in contact with each other, any interference or coincidence could result into addition of millions of more particles into the low Earth orbit. The main problem comes when these particles come in the path of the International Space Station, then it becomes serious problem which needed to be solved in order you have a safe flight on the ISS. Then ISS has to be on alert and sometimes needs to shift its position accordingly to the position of space debris, which all in all halts the working of the ISS.
