Page 90 - SAMENA Trends - October 2019

SATELLITE UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

avionics. The Explorer is based on the noted that mapping forest biomass from are changing. Stéphane Israël, CEO,
Astrobus Platform Line used, notably, space is a technical challenge as forests Arianespace, added the company is proud
on the following missions: SPOT6/7, are complex structures. Nevertheless, the to fly the Biomass satellite with Vega.
KazEOSat-1, SEOSAT/Ingenio, PeruSAT-1 Biomass mission is up to the task and will Once again, Vega guarantees autonomous
and Sentinel-5 Precursor. Following the spend at least five years in orbit, to deliver European access to space, enabling ESA to
contract signature, Josef Aschbacher, critical data to understand more about the carry out a crucial mission as we face the
Director of Earth Observation at ESA, and carbon cycle and how our forest resources challenge of climate change.

SpaceX Adds another 30,000 Satellites to Already Ambitious Plans

Elon Musk’s grand plan to dominate the is in discussion for the Starship part of than 25 ms, though pricing has not been
skies just became a lot grander as another the business also. As it stands, SpaceX’s unveiled by the providers. It is promising
application emerges, this time to add 30,000 Starship is currently working with NASA as to see aggressive progress to enhance
satellites to the SpaceX constellation. a logistics partner after the space agency the rich tapestry of connectivity, but there
Submitted to the ITU by the FCC on behalf retired its space shuttle program. However, are still significant hurdles to overcome.
of SpaceX, the paperwork would add it is also suggested the army is interesting There are currently 5,000 satellites circling
scope for an additional 30,000 satellites in Starship as a means to quickly move the earth, of which only around 2,000 are
on top of the 12,000 the company already personal around the globe. The low-orbit in operation. With some very wealthy
has permission to launch. According to satellite segment is certainly starting to companies launching tens of thousands
Space News, the FCC submitted 20 filings, heat-up, and this revelation should add of satellites into the skies, each will have
each for 1,500 satellites at different low- more fuel to the fire. Alongside SpaceX, the to prove their plans to minimize debris and
earth orbits. In recent years, satellite likes of OneWeb, Space Norway, Telesat, prevent collisions. As it stands, SpaceX
connectivity has proven to be an unpopular and Amazon are also fighting for real- has 60 satellites in the skies, which could
means with many telcos in developed estate amongst the stars. Theoretically, be as many as 1,000 in the very near future.
nations turning noses up at the idea. There the low-orbit satellites should offer greater Considering there are only 2,000 currently
was an attitude present in the industry levels of performance than traditional in operation, the skies could become very
that satellites were for poorer nations who satellites, gigabit speeds and latency less busy in the very near future.
did not control the same budgets, though
the industry does seem to be coming
around. At Mobile World Congress this
year, several companies were touting their
assets to the increasingly cash-strapped
telcos. With the cost of investment in
access infrastructure soaring, satellite is
becoming a more popular feature of the
connectivity patchwork to deliver services
to those in isolated and inaccessible
regions. It does seem the ambitious
Musk is backing the continuation of this
trend. Apparently 12,000 satellites isn’t
anywhere near enough. Interestingly
enough, reports have also emerged
SpaceX is in discussions with the US army
for its Starlink broadband network. High-
speed, low-latency communications are a
no-brainer for the army, especially when
you consider the global presence of the
US army, though it does appear the team

90 OCTOBER 2019