Satellite internet startup Astranis is on a mission to help everyone in the world get online — and it just launched the satellite that could be the key to its success.
Digital divide: Internet connectivity means access to work, education, entertainment and more, but nearly 3 billion people don’t have access to the Internet, and many more still don’t have access to fast, reliable service.
“They have smartphones just like us, but those smartphones are still stuck on 2G internet connections,” John Gedmark, co-founder and CEO of satellite internet company Astranis, told Freethink. “You know, the equivalent of dial-up.”
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While cost is a barrier for some, others live in remote or rural areas and don’t have access to high-speed internet even if they could afford it—the infrastructure simply isn’t in place, and internet providers aren’t interested in building it.
Satellite Internet: As rocket launch costs fall, the cheapest way to close the digital divide may be through satellites, which can beam high-speed internet to any location on Earth as long as there is a direct line of sight between the satellite and receiver.
Other companies such as Starlink have been pursuing this goal for years, but they place their satellites in low-Earth orbit, about 340 miles above Earth. Astranis plans to place internet satellites into geostationary equatorial orbit (GEO), which will exceed 22,000 miles above the ground.
This higher orbit means a satellite can “see” more of the Earth’s surface and, therefore, cover a larger area with fewer satellites. (The disadvantage of the extra distance is that the signal takes longer to transmit, so GEO satellite internet is not ideal for applications that require low latency, such as online gaming.)
what’s new? Astranis launched its first satellite in April 2023, and although it initially worked “perfectly,” issues with its solar panels kept it from operating before it could begin providing internet access to the people of Alaska as originally planned.
However, the company has received orders to deploy nine more satellites over the next two years, and on April 10 it launched a new, larger satellite called “Omega.”
According to Astranis, Omega will be able to deliver 50 gigabits per second (Gbps) of bandwidth, four to five times the 10-12 Gbps of its original “MicroGEO” model. However, it is only 50% heavier (400 kg vs 600 kg), which helps reduce launch costs.
“Astranis Omega” [is] A broadband communications system that performs better than any other geostationary satellite in orbit today,” Gedemark wrote in a blog post.
Looking to the future: Astranis expects to deploy the first Omega satellite in 2026, with each satellite having a lifespan of approximately 8-10 years. As is the case with MicroGEO satellites, the startup plans to operate the Omega satellites itself and lease its broadband capacity to customers around the world.
“There are 3 to 4 billion people in the world who don’t have reliable access to broadband Internet…and that’s what we have to solve,” Gedmark said.
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