Canada desperately needs a national strategic internet constellation.

Edit to fix link.

  • merc@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    2 days ago

    Geostationary satellites orbit at a height of 35,000 km. That means there’s a huge lag, making the satellites unsuitable for interactive Internet, and it also means they’re far away, so you need a big directional antenna to send data to them.

    Starlink is awful, but you definitely don’t want geostationary satellites for Internet.

    • alsimoneau@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 day ago

      If you’re so far in the woods that you need a satellite connection for Internet, you don’t need a low ping. It’s not with ruining our sky, radio astronomy and our atmosphere for a few people’s convenience.

    • RaskolnikovsAxe@lemmy.caOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      2 days ago

      Correctamundo. You can’t speed up light. For low latency you need LEO, and since they don’t sit still for you (8km/s roughly) you need a bunch of them in some kind of formation or constellation, so that you generally have something to connect to at any given moment, or at least a chain that can relay to ground stations.