In October 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into space; Sputnik 1’s 90-minute orbit kicked off the space age. Today, more than 1,900 satellites orbit Earth.
Used for communication, navigation, and observation, satellites enable us to use the internet, watch television, and map our way to unfamiliar locations. Scientists rely on satellites for research purposes, such as monitoring changes in the ocean, while military and defense applications use satellite-based information to keep us safe.
Currently, there are 10 different types of satellites orbiting the planet:
- Communications satellites
- Remote sensing satellites
- Navigation satellites
- Geocentric orbiting systems
- Global positioning system satellites
- Geostationary satellites
- Drone satellites
- Ground satellites
- Polar satellites
- Nanosatellites (including CubeSats and SmallSats)
Satellites have to withstand space’s hostile environment, which involves extreme temperature fluctuations, pressure changes, and orbital debris collisions. A satellite’s construction must combine durability and lightness — just one extra kilogram can increase the cost of a satellite launch by thousands of dollars.
Space applications often rely on aluminum 4047 to offer this combination of strength and light weight. On its own, aluminum does not weigh much, but it also lacks strength; however, when alloyed with other metals, aluminum becomes stronger without greatly increasing its weight. Aluminum 4047’s high silicon content also helps it resist corrosion and endure extremely high temperatures.
How Does Satellite Internet Work?
The internet works by relaying signals between a geostationary (GEO) satellite orbiting Earth and a home or business’s receiving system, often called a “dish.” The dish is a fixed antenna that receives signals from the GEO satellite, and it owes its name to its convex shape, which amplifies the signal and gives it a dish-like appearance.
Satellite dishes consist of two parts: a feed horn and a bowl-shaped dish. The dish receives the internet signal from the GEO satellite. The dish’s bowl shape, created through the process of metal spinning, helps refocus the incoming waves toward the feed horn.
Geostationary satellites orbit the equator at altitudes of 22,236 miles. This exact height enables GEO satellites to orbit at the same speed as the Earth’s rotation helping stay in one fixed location above the Earth’s surface. While the satellites may veer slightly north and south of the equator, they can “keep pace” with the Earth’s orbit for long periods of time.
Satellite internet serves rural areas where the cost of fiber optic cable is prohibitive. However, keeping up with satellite technology is expensive. Several companies started out providing satellite internet to the U.S., but today there are only two satellite internet companies serving rural communities: Viasat and HughesNet.
Improvements to Satellite Internet in Rural Areas
Three geostationary satellites, positioned 120 degrees of latitude apart, provide coverage to most of the Earth. However, the Earth’s shape prevents signals from reaching a small circular area around each of the poles.
The blind spots resulting from GEO satellites’ coverage mean that many Arctic and Antarctic locales lack reliable access to the internet. This problem especially affects Alaskan communities, who instead rely on fiber-optic landlines.
However, this practice comes with a prohibitive cost/benefit ratio, as it’s expensive to run these lines over long distances to serve small communities.
As a result, several startups are eyeing Alaska as a prime place to start low-earth-orbiting (LEO) satellite services.
LEOs orbit much closer to Earth than their GEO counterparts at only 1,200 miles above ground. The high costs associated with fixed internet services combined with the interest by American investors in this new technology make Alaska an ideal place to test LEO internet service capabilities.
Implementing LEO internet services will have a much wider impact than serving rural communities. If LEO pilot projects are successful, internet providers can expand their coverage to shipping lanes that travel through Arctic and Antarctic waters. The availability of satellite internet will also benefit other important infrastructure and economic applications, such as airports and oil rigs.
Internet’s Last Frontier
Polar satellite internet services have proven stubbornly difficult to put in place. However, with new advances in LEO satellite technology, we may be soon approaching a time when the entire globe has access to high-speed satellite internet.