Satellite Broadband Future: A Look at What Could Be

Source: DepositPhotos

Satellite internet is one of the most exciting broadband technologies to date, and we've seen how much noise mega-companies have made with their promising services, such as SpaceX's Starlink and Amazon's Project Kuiper.

Although the technology has been around for years, we'd like to speculate and imagine what a satellite broadband future looks like. Will it eventually be a viable replacement for terrestrial networks like 5G and fibre optics?

Satellite Internet Connectivity at a Glance

Satellite internet is a viable option for many people, especially in small rural areas that may lack adequate telecommunication infrastructure. However, in its current stage, it faces some speed, latency, and bandwidth difficulties.

Fortunately, all those problems seem solvable with new and upcoming technologies, especially LEO satellite constellations.

Overview of the Current State of Satellite Broadband

Source: DepositPhotos

Satellite internet isn't new, but it wasn't such a hot topic before because it wasn't necessary with other shiny technologies around. Moreover, it always struggled to provide service reliably.

But in recent years, home internet usage has been increasing rapidly. If you live in a modern city, especially in New Zealand, this won't be a problem because it's easy to install broadband and enjoy low-cost, high-speed internet right away.

But for many people in rural areas, especially in the developing world, this option isn't as viable because telecommunication infrastructure can be unreliable or nonexistent.

Fortunately, you don't need much infrastructure when your signals are coming from space, which is why satellite internet is crucial for remote regions.

Limitations of Modern Satellite Broadband Technology

Although satellite internet is a very modern and lucrative endeavour, it faces some serious limitations in its current state.

For starters, it's way too expensive for many people, especially in the developing world, where the upfront installation cost can be too exorbitant. That holds even though monthly subscriptions onward are comparable to DSL and cable.

Second, satellite internet suffers from lower speeds and higher latency than its cable counterparts, making it unusable for streaming and gaming activities.

Benefits of Satellite Broadband Service

Source: DepositPhotos

Satellite internet promises many benefits previously unheard of among other land-based technologies. Or if they were, then a satellite service can provide it in a more consistent form.

Although most of these benefits are already deliverable by modern satellite technology, the future may make it more accessible at a lower cost.

More Global Internet Coverage

The main benefit of satellite internet is providing connectivity to remote locations that lack nearby cell towers.

For reference, a geostationary satellite can cover entire continents and large parts of oceans, so you'd struggle to find yourself out of their range, even if you're on a boat in the middle of the ocean.

Bridging the Digital Divide Between Modern and Neglected Areas

The digital divide between people with internet access and those without gets increasingly wider as the internet becomes more integrated into our day-to-day lives.

Research has shown that this lack of access can make it harder to climb out of poverty.

Mobility

With most terrestrial networks, such as DSL, cable, and fibre optic, you're tied down to where your internet wiring is installed.

As such, mobile stations like trains, aeroplanes, and ships are forced to resort to wireless networks connecting to nearby communication towers, which may not be reliable the further you go from cities.

But internet connectivity is guaranteed when you're connecting to commercial satellites, barring any irregularities or interference.

Backup to Terrestrial Internet

Satellite internet can also act as a backup for areas where terrestrial network infrastructure is susceptible to damage from outside sources, leading to disruptions or outages.

For example, emergencies or natural disasters can cut off your connection in an especially dire time. In these cases, satellite internet can play a crucial role as a last resort.

Promising New Technologies in Satellite Internet

We're still in the early days of satellite internet technology. Although it would seem like science fiction to someone in the late 90s or even early 2000s, we still have a long way to go, as you'll see with these promising satellite technologies.

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellites

Source: DepositPhotos

Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites are constellations of large numbers of satellites moving closer to the Earth than their traditional geostationary counterparts.

Because LEO satellite constellations operate at a much shorter distance to the senders and receivers on Earth, you can expect high-speed connectivity and lower latency when you use it. This is because signals don't need to travel as much as they would to reach geo satellites' orbit.

High-Throughput Satellites

High-throughput satellites use advanced technology, namely spot beams, to divide the coverage area into smaller sub-regions. They focus on transmitting data between them while reusing frequencies from different beams as needed.

This allows high-throughput satellites to handle a higher capacity of users but also deliver high-speed connectivity with a larger bandwidth.

Here's an analogy to help you understand the technology: instead of cutting pizza slices and handing them out one by one (traditional method), you'd make multiple small slices and deliver them with multiple hands so that everyone can enjoy it simultaneously (high-throughput).

Inter-Satellite Laser Links

Typically, satellites in space communicate with stations on the Earth's surface, meaning each message has to travel all the way and back while going from the sender to the receiver.

If you were to build satellite constellations at a large scale, you could enable communication between them (hence the "inter" in the name) using laser beams. This would theoretically provide faster internet speeds, but it's yet to be applied.

Software-Defined Satellite Constellations

Traditionally, companies launch satellites with predefined instructions and configurations that determine how they will interact with the ground station.

In contrast, the more modern software-defined satellites allow operators to control them remotely to adjust their resources dynamically based on the current needs.

This can help optimise satellite internet performance by increasing speed and bandwidth.

Future Trends of Satellite Internet

Source: Pexels.com

Let's analyse some current and future satellite internet trends to see where we can expand to go from here.

High-Speed Internet

Satellite internet has already come a long way in terms of speed since its inception. It went from an unusable and highly theoretical concept to a stable and fast enough service that's invaluable to many communities.

And as more satellites are deployed using next-generation technologies (such as LEO satellites), satellite internet speeds are expected to keep rising.

Low Latency

Satellite internet has always suffered relatively high latency because of how far satellites are from the Earth's surface.

But that distance is significantly abridged when the satellites operate at a lower orbit. Combine that with the higher speeds, and you can expect future satellite internet to have much lower latency.

More Global Coverage for Remote Areas

Satellites already have impressive coverage that secures many underserved areas, but we can expect this coverage to improve as companies launch more satellites into orbit.

Eco-Friendliness and Sustainability

We expect companies to focus on launching green and sustainable satellite constellations that deliver the promised reliable service while minimising their environmental impact on Earth and in space.

Hybridisation With Terrestrial Internet Service

Satellite internet can also be integrated with traditional terrestrial networks like DSL or fibre optics to combine the best of both worlds and provide a seamless connection to the internet.

Systems that hybridise between both can be trained to know when to use each technology based on factors like location, bandwidth demand, user capacity, network availability, and more.

Challenges Facing Satellite Internet

Source: DepositPhotos

Although the future of satellite internet seems very bright and promising, there are some challenges that the world's most innovative companies will have to overcome if they want to deliver powerful and reliable services.

As we've mentioned, latency is the most notable issue because of the massive distance between geostationary satellite constellations and senders and receivers on Earth.

The limited bandwidth and inability to handle a huge user load at once is another big issue that we hope to see addressed by companies. Managing user-created congestion, especially during peak hours, is crucial if satellite internet hopes to be viable for more demanding tasks like gaming and streaming.

Closing Thoughts

If you go back 20-25 years and show someone the capabilities of modern satellite internet technology, they'll likely think you're a wizard, which shows how impressive the progress has been in this field.

Despite this, satellite internet services have their shortcomings, most notably the higher latency and slower speeds.

As we continue to see developments in advanced technologies, such as high-throughput and LEO satellite constellations, we can expect a very bright satellite broadband future.