Earth-wide internet by Samsung

Samsung, like SpaceX / Google, proposed an ‘Earth-wide internet,’ covered by a cloud of 4,600 microsatellites.

Microsatellites.  Image credit ESA

Samsung proposes to place its constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), as opposed most communication satellites that operate in GSO – geosynchronous orbit (35,000 kilometers), the main it requires so many satellites.

According to the study published by Samsung:  “Almost two-thirds of the humankind now does not have access to the Internet, wired or wireless. We present a Space Internet proposal capable of providing Zetabyte/ month capacity which is equivalent to 200GB/month for 5 Billion users Worldwide. Our proposal is based on deploying thousands of low-cost micro-satellites in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), each capable of providing Terabit/s data rates with signal latencies better than or equal to ground based systems.”

Earth-wide internet by Samsung (2)

Image credit Samsung

The report on structure of a future Samsung space-based internet program, describes:

“We outlined a vision of a Space Internet to make affordable Internet services available to everyone in the world via low-cost micro-satellites. We noted that about 4,600 such satellites operating at data rates in excess of Tb/s in LEO orbit can provide overall capacity of one Zetabyte/ month or 200GB/month for 5 Billion users Worldwide with signal latencies comparable to those offered by ground based systems.”