Starlink

STARLINK SATELLITE:

The lakes by Delta Junction in Alaska weren’t frozen over yet when it was just dark enough to see the magical halation over the night’s sky and another phenomenon Murray instantly knew — a moving train of lights.

Guide and part-owner of the Aurora Chasers, an Alaska based tour group, Murray had seen the lineup of satellites a few days prior. He recognized it from other people’s accounts but had never seen it himself. Literally the stars aligned, and the night sky opened up on a drive 150 miles outside of Fairbanks. The footage shows what looks like stars trailing one another amid the emerald glow of the northern lights.

“We were a bit baffled at first then realized, ‘wait that must be Starlink.’ Then my wife got her star tracker app out, and it showed that’s what we had seen.”

The view, while equal parts mesmerizing as it is surprising, has astronomers wondering, is there any way to dim the lights on these satellites or are we doomed to a mega constellation future?

Murray captured the 46 objects launched on Aug. 31 by SpaceX clumped together, reflecting the sun back to observers on Earth. These satellites are part of the growing Starlink constellation aimed at providing broadband internet across the globe, much in the manner Global Positioning System (GPS) provides location data to cellphones around the planet.

But unlike GPS, the task requires tens of thousands of satellites for service to work without drops in coverage. In three years, the aerospace company SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, has gone from 60 satellites to launching over 3,500 Starlinks to date. Nearly half of all active satellites are from SpaceX, according to data from the nonprofit satellite tracker CelesTrak. A recent FCC authorization approved the launch of 7,500 more satellites and a nodding sentiment in the company’s plan to launch 30,000 orbiting internet boxes. A feat, that at this rate, they could achieve before 2050.

The most famous satellite, our moon, is visible as it traverses our sky. We see the lunar surface because one half of it is pointed at our sun at all times. It’s easier to see the moon at night when we are in the shadow of the Sun, also known as nighttime.

These principles hold up for smaller orbiting bodies as well. If you time it right, you can see the International Space Station (ISS) at night. You can see it pass in front of a full moon.Starlink satellites are also quite luminous, something they’ve been working on dimming with the astronomical community since they started launching satellites.

Starlink isn't the only contender in the space race and has a few competitors, including OneWeb, HughesNet, Viasat and Amazon. HughesNet has been providing signal coverage from 22,000 miles above the Earth since 1996, but Starlink follows a slightly different approach and presents the following improvements:

Instead of using a couple of large satellites, Starlink uses thousands of small satellites.

Starlink uses LEO satellites that circle the planet at only 300 miles above surface level. This shortened geostationary orbit improves internet speeds and reduces latency levels.

The newest Starlink satellites have laser communication elements to transmit signals between satellites, reducing dependency on multiple ground stations.

SpaceX aims to launch as many as 40,000 satellites in the near future, ensuring global and remote satellite coverage with reduced service outages.

Starlink has the advantage of being part of SpaceX, which in addition to launching Starlink satellites, also conducts regular partner launches. Other satellite internet providers may not be able to schedule regular satellite launches due to the high-cost factors involved.

Starlink offers unlimited high-speed data through an array of small satellites that deliver up to 150 Megabits per second (Mbps) of internet speed. SpaceX plans to double this rate in the coming months.

According to a recent Speedtest by Ookla, Starlink recorded its fastest median download speed in the first quarter of 2022 at 160 Mbps in Lithuania. Starlink also clocked in at 91 Mbps in the U.S., 97 Mbps in Canada and 124 Mbps in Australia. Starlink in Mexico was the fastest satellite internet in North America, with a median download speed of 105.91 Mbps. The Speedtest further revealed that upload speeds have seen a downward curve of at least 33% in the U.S. -- from 16.29 Mbps in the first quarter of 2021 to 9.33 Mbps in the second quarter of 2022.