Starlink Satellite Internet: Background, Working, Challenges & Future

Starlink is a high speed satellite internet service developed and operated by an American aerospace company SpaceX. The traditional satellite service providers depend on a geostationary satellite which orbits over 35,000 kms. But Starlink uses a vast constellation of satellites which operates in Low Earth Orbit or LEO at about 550 kms above Earth. These low orbiting starlink satellites enormously reduce the travel time of signal and deliver high speed internet service with lower latency.

The Starlink satellites use inter-satellite laser links for data to travel directly to satellites without any requirement of nearby ground stations. The hardware or user terminals are weather resilient and can be operated via a mobile application. These terminals are built to melt snow, operate in extreme temperatures, heavy rains and harsh winds. Starlink covers the fast internet to any location on earth. They do not neglect the remote and rural regions where terrestrial fibre, cable or cell tower are unavailable and difficult to operate.

Background of Starlink Satellite Internet

The CEO of SpaceX Elon Musk presented the starlink project in January 2015 during an event in Seattle in the United States of America.
The starlink satellite Internet was launched to serve two primary objectives. Firstly, to provide high-speed and low-latency broadband internet service globally. Secondly, to generate funds for the long term goal of SpaceX for Mars colonisation plans and build Starship Rockets.
The Dishy McFlatface is the nickname given for the SpaceX Starlink user terminal which is used to connect to the Starlink Low Earth Orbit (LEO) internet constellation.
Moreover, the approval of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for 12,000 satellites in 2018 was a major achievement of the starlink project. It was further expanded to 42,000 satellites.

Comparison of Starlink with traditional Satellite Internet

S.No.	Parameters	Starlink Satellite Internet	Traditional Satellite Internet
1	Satellite orbit	Low Earth Orbit (LEO) About 340 to 570 km above Earth.	Usually Geostationary Orbit (GEO) About 35,786 km above Earth.
2	Latency	Very low Usually around 25 to 60 ms on land.	High Usually about 500 to 700 ms.
3	Download speed	Typically about 25 to 220 Mbps.	Commonly around 12 to 100 Mbps.
4	Real time applications	Starlink is better suited for video conferencing, VoIP calls, cloud services and online gaming due to low latency.	They are less suitable for gaming and live video calls because of high signal delay.
5	Coverage	Global and Broader coverage. It requires an unobstructed view of the sky.	Very wide coverage per satellite. The coverage may be weaker at high latitudes.
6	User equipment	The electronically steered 'Dishy' terminal automatically tracks moving satellites.	Fixed dish antenna pointed permanently at one GEO satellite.
7	Weather effects	Rain, snow and obstructions can affect service.	Rain fade can degrade signals. A single satellite link usually creates greater dependence on weather conditions.
8	Main advantages	Low latency, higher speed, mobility, and effective connectivity for remote areas.	Wider single-satellite, and simple fixed-satellite architecture.
9	Main limitations	Higher terminal cost, need for clear sky, congestion in high-demand areas, and concerns about space debris and astronomy.	High latency, lower interactivity, data caps, and generally slower user experience.

Challenges and Limitations of Starlink

Starlink has revolutionized access to the Internet for remote and rural people. The large scale and technical model demonstrates various limitations and challenges which are discussed below.

Network Congestion: Starlink has a limited data capacity in their satellites. This is the reason densely populated or highly subscribed regions experience low bandwidth in peak hours.
Line of Sight: The high frequency ku/ka radio signals used in starlink require an unobstructed line of sight to the sky. The tall trees, skyscrapers or buildings and mountains interrupt the signals.
Weather disruption: The weather phenomena such as heavy rain, dense clouds, snowstorms can absorb or scatter radio signals which can result in temporary absence of network.
Kessler Syndrome: Starlink uses thousands of satellites in the Earth's low earth orbit which can lead to the risk of satellite collision. A further cascading of such collisions which is also called as the kessler syndrome, may leave near- earth space unusable for future generations.