Hey everyone, this is Sira, and you’re watching Tech for Luddites

In this video, we’ll examine the feasibility of Elon Musk’s latest plan,
to take over the world.

Through The Internet.

Starlink hopes to send up a ton of satellites into space,
over the course of the next few years,
so that they can beam down memes straight to your phone.

Ok, it won’t be straight to your phone.
So, sorry for the misleading thumbnail.
Instead you’ll get your internet through what are
widely being described as pizza box sized phased array antennas.

The satellites will orbit the world,
sending everyone data, at a rate that far surpasses traditional satellite internet.

Not a high bar…? but, ok.
How is it different?
Well, the two main things are that these satellites will orbit much closer to the earth,
and there will be way more of them.

Space X has also gained approval for a million ground stations.

These antennas can send a directed beam
without the need to point in a certain direction.
Ok, cross that, apparently,
in a tweet Elon said they’ll be like flying saucers that twitch
and move around to find the optimal angle to the sky.

So…I guess invest
in small motor repair companies if you want to make a lot of money?

It’s basically like your Tata Sky dish.
Just that because TV satellites are geostationary,
meaning they hover at a fixed point with respect to the earth,
the dishes don’t need to change the direction of their beams.
If you’ve ever wondered why the same data link that sends you TV signals,
can’t provide you internet,
well, it’s because of the latency.
Because geostationary satellites orbit at 37000 km above the earth,
the signal would have to travel a long way,
and your internet would just not be very responsive.

Also, satellite tv sends you everything at once.
It all arrives together at slightly different frequencies,
and you use your set top box to decide the program you want to…
tune in to.

And for the Showcases etc,
you have to send a message to a phone number.
You’re not really communicating with the satellite directly.

Anyway, so back to Starlink.
Just a few days ago Space X sent 60 satellites into orbit with a single Falcon 9 rocket.
And by 2027, they’re planning to send 12000.
With permission for 30000 more.

But what’s the point of all of this?
Is it going to be any faster than your regular internet?
That…depends.
They’ve demonstrated speeds of 610 Mbps, and said theyll go upto 1 Gbps.

Which is faster than most internet connections we have right now.
But since the bandwidth appears limited to 20 Gbps/ satellite,
they’ll probably throttle this, to more manageable levels per user.

Everything needs to be taken in context.
Even very mature companies in this space don’t have huge client bases.
So that capacity is not likely to saturated, at least at first.

Elon Musk said on twitter
that SpaceX will be able to start providing somewhat functional internet
on Starlink when they have 1000 satellites in orbit.

Supposedly by the end of 2020.
Let’s talk about the state of the internet today.

Great connectivity in major cities for the most part through broadband.

Middling to terrible connectivity in small towns and suburbs,
and absent completely in many rural areas -
where a lot of people use mobile networks to stay connected.

Everyone knows the second SIM slot in every phone is reserved for Jio.

But by the mid-20s, I think we should have 5G.
And remember, 5G is not just high speeds, it’s also huge amounts of bandwidth,
possibly unlimited datacaps, and much wider coverage
at lower speeds using sub-6 bands.
So where will Starlink really work?
Well, all current Hughesnet subscribers are apparently really desperate for it.
Rural areas in even the most developed countries
seem to be terrible in terms of having a functional internet.

And I’m a bit of a sucker for the idea of the world opening up.
Widespread, high-speed internet, bringing with it, the ability to live and work from anywhere.
Freeing up the cities, bringing new business to smaller towns,
and bringing down the cost of real estate.

But I have a feeling, that will never happen.
No proof.
I just think, cities are incredibly good at concentrating resources,
and most of us, as much as we may claim,
prefer those comforts, to living secluded lifestyles near nature.

The other big advantage people are talking about is in high frequency trading.
Because the signal will travel through air, and
space, rather than through an optic-fibre cable,
apparently the latency will be significantly lower.

And this will allow algorithms, to make quick bucks on ephemeral stock fluctuations.

Really?
Is that how people are making money these days?
I don’t think I’m a huge fan of the idea, but it seems to be worth big money.

Let’s look at some of the possible disadvantages of Starlink.

Well, there’s the possibility of space debris.
Today we have around 2000 satellites in space.
Another 40000 in orbit, is totally uncharted territory for mankind.

If there is even a single collision, it could lead to a runaway chain reaction.
At the same time, these satellite are in Low Earth Orbits,
so they’ll likely just fall back to earth, except a few fragments that get thrown up further.
But space is pretty big.
And these satellites come with systems to detect each other’s positions,
and adjust course accordingly, so I think we’ll probably be ok.

The other issue that cropped up, was that astronomers found,
that the Starlink satellites were so bright in the sky that it was mucking up their observations.

But they’ve been discussing the issue with SpaceX, and it looks like,
once the satellites reach their final orbit, they won’t be that obtrusive.
Starlink is also experimenting to try and reduce the amount of light
That satellites reflect in further launches.

As much as I like the idea of Internet from space,
it doesn’t look like it’s going to be substantially cheaper.
The terminal itself is supposed to cost 200 dollars, or 14000 rupees.

So I don’t see how exactly the unserved rural poor,
who Starlink claims this will help, are going to be able to afford it.

Elon Musk wants to make 30 billion dollars per year from this venture,
and even if they gobble up all their competitors,
it’s not clear where that money is going to come from.

And when the satellites crash and burn in 5 years or so,
they’ll need to be replaced, so there is always that expense.
Starlink has a couple of major competitors other than the few that already exist.

Jezz Bezos’ Kuiper, plans to deploy a 3000 satellite constellation,
and OneWeb, a company backed by tech giants like Qualcomm
will have a 2000 satellite constellation.

There are some technical differences, but essentially they all have the stated purpose -
of connecting the world through universally available internet.

And though they have some of the deepest pockets in the world funding them,
they don’t have the advantage of literally owning the largest launch provider in the world.

With so many companies rushing into space, you have to wonder.
Why? Does it make a ton of money?
It doesn’t really look like it.

Maybe there is a different business model coming.
If we do have ubiquitous internet connectivity with low latency,
could that be used for calls? Thus, replacing telecoms?
I don’t see why not.
I already use WhatsApp for calls pretty often.
Will low-latency internet help Tesla make autonomous fleets of taxis more viable?

May be it can be used for military purposes,
for emergency services,
and may be some 3rd world governments will buy a bunch of bandwidth to provide
free internet access to its citizens.

Elon Musk always ties his ventures to a higher purpose.
With Tesla and Hyperloop, it’s about stopping global warming.

And with Starlink, he plans to use the 30 billion a year in revenue to fund…
the colonization of Mars.

And, while Hyperloop may be doomed to failure,
Tesla, is genuinely changing the world for the better
So, Elon has proven to have a decent track record.
People who have bet against him haven’t usually fared well.

So… if you live in a city,
would you take, perhaps a slightly slower, more expensive internet,
to subsidise people in rural areas?

Especially, if it helped to get humanity to Mars?
Let me know.
And if you have any questions about Starlink, leave them in the comments below,
I’ll try to answer them in next week's video.

I hope you guys enjoyed this video.
Like, share, and subscribe to get more videos like this in your recommendations.
I’ll see you really soon.
Bye!
