Starlink is the project that uses a constellation of satellites deployed in low orbit (Low Earth Orbit, LEO) developed and operated by the aerospace company SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk. Starlink’s main goal is to provide satellite connection High-speed, reliable and global Internet, especially in remote or poorly served areas by traditional terrestrial networks.
We have seen that Starlink satellites, often observable after a new launch like a sort of “light train” in the celestial vault, are not geostationary but rapidly orbit the Earth. Furthermore, they communicate with each other using a laser beam and they mount, especially in the most recent versions, powerful antennas to exchange data with the kits located on the earth’s surface.
Indeed, the Direct To Cell project will soon allow exchanges data via satellite using regular smartphones and mobile devices with LTE support (the Starlink satellite is seen as a traditional mobile cell).
The capacity of each laser link used by Starlink: 100-200 Gbps
The heart of Starlink technology is based on the use of lasers, capable of supporting a connection from 100 Gbps for each link (the peak value is 200 Gbps). They are essential for transferring data when satellites are outside of one’s coverage range Starlink ground station, such as over the oceans or in the most remote areas of the globe. In such situations, satellites can transmit data to and from other satellites in the same constellation, creating a real rete mesh in the space.
Travis BrashearsSpaceX engineer, shared some very interesting data during the event SPIE Photonics West held in San Francisco. First of all, he revealed that overall theuptime of laser interconnections exceeds 99% in terms of time. The constellation establishes beyond 266,000 laser connections every day, some of which can be kept active for weeks.
How much data does the Starlink satellite connection “moves” every day
The engineer also revealed the data volume that the Starlink satellites manage on a daily basis: we are talking about something like 42 Petabytes, equivalent to 42 million gigabytes. These are the data sent and received by users who subscribe to the service, who browse the Web, transfer information, start video calls and video conferences.
Brashears adds that the system is currently capable of moving data while ensuring a bandwidth in the order of Terabits per second (Tbps), using 9,000 lasers. Taking into consideration a time window of 2 hours, all users connected to Starlink can access the connection service at the same time.
Currently, most Starlink satellites in orbit use a laser link design.”Gen 3“. However, SpaceX recently introduced a next-generation scheme, “Gen 4“, producing around 200 units per week. To reduce costs, SpaceX uses commercially available components, ensuring that (for example in the event of malfunctions) they can eventually be destroyed upon re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere, without leaving traces.
The system can choose the best route and change it within a few milliseconds
During his presentation, Brashears also showed a slide which shows how the laser system can allow high-speed data exchange with a Starlink dish installed in Antarctica using as many as seven different paths. The engineer cited the example of Antarctica precisely to underline how the Starlink satellite connection aims to be global and allows an automatic choice of best route it’s more PERFORMANCES for data packets, wherever you are on the globe.
“We can dynamically change the paths taken by data packets in a matter of milliseconds. So, as long as we can establish a path to ground, the Starlink system can guarantee 99.99% connection uptime. That’s why it’s important to get as many nodes up there as possible“, finally added the engineer.
The opening image is taken from this page (Starlink).