Satellite Internet Is the New Space Race

Satellite Internet Is the New Space Race

6 years ago
Anonymous $oIHRkISgaL

https://medium.com/pcmag-access/satellite-internet-is-the-new-space-race-1975c0c7bf16

Satellites are a reasonable way to achieve internet access where previously there was none. But the technology has not been fast, reliable, or responsive enough to compete with modern fiber or cable-based internet. That may change with efforts from the likes of SpaceX.

There’s a theory (or perhaps a cautionary tale) among astronomers called the Kessler Syndrome, named for the NASA astrophysicist who proposed it in 1978. In this scenario, an orbiting satellite or some other piece of material accidentally strikes another and breaks into pieces. These pieces whirl around the Earth at tens of thousands of miles per hour, destroying everything in their path, including other satellites. It starts a catastrophic chain reaction that ends in a cloud of millions of pieces of non-functional space debris that orbits the planet indefinitely.