What exactly is Musk's Starlink moon used for? Especially not long ago, some foreign media even questioned that the Starlink satellite may have the ability to provide position guidance for ground or maritime targets, which makes more people begin to doubt the real use of the Starlink.
According to Musk's 2019 plan, it is ready to use 12,000 starlink satellites to form a complete set of low-Earth orbit Internet constellations to achieve stable WiFi signal coverage without dead angles on the earth.
If it is true as Musk described, wouldn't StarLink let the United States skip 5G and go straight to the 6G network? However, this may not be the case, and the Starlink program has advantages but also fatal shortcomings.
The principle of the Starlink plan is very simple, that is, by launching low-Earth orbit satellites, the data signal is transmitted to the nearest ground station through the interconnection route between the starlink satellites, and then the ground station is connected to the Internet.
Starlink satellites are not only numerous, but also have a variety of orbital inclinations such as 42°, 48°, 53°, 70°, 97.6°, distributed in multi-level orbits such as 340km, 55km and 1100km from the earth.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Starlink satellites are like a large network of satellites, enveloping the earth. Imagine that tens of thousands of star-chain satellites orbit the earth, no matter where you are on the earth, there will always be satellites just above you, and it is naturally easy to achieve data communication.
I have to say that Musk is a talent, the use of satellite network communication, is indeed a good idea, can greatly solve the communication problem in remote areas. Moreover, according to the current tests, the network speed that starlink satellites can achieve can reach the maximum speed when connecting the stable point
150 to 500Mbps.
Not only that, but the cost of Musk's starlink satellites is still very low, about the cost of each satellite is only about $1 million.
In this way, Musk's starlink satellite, technically feasible, cost controllable, performance advantages, does not mean that the starlink satellite will become the mainstream of future communications, and can replace 5G, or even 6G communication?
If you really think so, it is a big mistake, starlink satellites want to truly achieve the effect of 6G communication, it is simply a fool's dream.
The queen mother sells melons and sells herself and boasts. The advantages of the Starlink program are well known, but Space does not mention the possible problems and shortcomings of the Starlink program.
As of April 14, 2022, 2335 Starlink satellites have been sent into orbit, is it possible to access the Internet through Starlink satellites as long as their area is covered by the network of Starlink satellites?
The answer is no, many people think that Starlink satellites are like the 4G and 5G signals of our mobile phones, as long as they are covered, they can be used normally.
To understand, the mobile phone we are currently using cannot be directly connected to the Starlink satellite signal, because the signals of the two are not in the same frequency band at all.
In the smartphone WiFi band, the downstream emission frequency is 2.4GHz and the upstream frequency is 5GHz, while the Starlink satellite is 11-12GHZ and 13GHZ, respectively.
If anyone tells you that his phone can use StarLink satellites to access the Internet, either he has been deceived or he wants to deceive you.
This means that communication terminals such as mobile phones on the ground need to add an additional set of Starlink routers if they want to use the Starlink satellite network. The Starlink router is composed of two parts: the host and the antenna, which is also the basic condition for using the Starlink satellite signal.
Just imagine, how many people will be willing to buy an additional new mobile phone in order to achieve starlink satellite Internet access?
Even if the frequency difference problem at the receiving end is solved, the frequency of the Starlink satellite around 12GHZ has a fatal drawback. That is because the frequency becomes larger, the ability of the starlink satellite signal to pass through obstacles will be greatly reduced.
What does that mean? For a simple example, the WiFi signal generally weakens quickly after passing through two walls, but the 4G signal of the mobile phone call is unimpeded in the room.
This is because the communication signal frequency of mobile phones is much lower than the frequency of WiFi, and the penetration of obstacles and the propagation distance are also farther. The frequency of the Starlink satellite signal is higher than that of WiFi, so its anti-attenuation ability on the ground will be very poor.
In order to solve the shortcomings of weak signal strength and penetration, Musk thought of another way, that is, to build a ground base station.
According to Space's plan, more than 1 million ground stations will be built to serve as signal transmission links between ground communication terminals and Starlink satellites.
Regrettably, the Starlink satellite relies on 1 million ground base stations and cannot achieve global coverage at all. Because the signal frequency of the Starlink satellite is there, this underlying technical limitation is difficult to get rid of.
So the question is, the original intention of the Starlink satellite is to use satellite communication to replace the 4G and 5G communication of the ground base station, and now it is necessary to return to the construction of the ground base station, what is the significance of the starlink?
In summary, the signal frequency penetration of starlink satellites is weak, the use of special routers, but also the cooperation of base stations, compared with the development of 5G technology today, it seems that it is not as intoxicating as Musk touted.
Of course, starlink satellites are not useless, this line of thinking is really good, because satellite signals cover remote areas, which will be more comprehensive and convenient than base stations.
Starlink satellites can make up for the lack of ground base stations, but can not completely replace the function of base stations, only Starlink satellites and existing base stations to cooperate, in order to build a more stable and high-speed network.
Therefore, without the ground-complete 5G base station as a support, trying to solve the communication problem through tens of thousands of satellites, it is simply impossible, and it is impossible to skip 5G and go straight to 6G.
Not only that, the Starlink satellite is only about 200 kilograms, which is a small satellite. At present, there are about 4800 satellites in orbit on the earth, and the starlink satellites account for almost half of them, which has caused a great waste of resources in the earth's low-Earth space orbit.
In addition, the life of Starlink satellites is very short, requiring the continuous launch of new satellites, replacing satellites that have been scrapped, and causing a large amount of space junk.
From this point of view, at present, Musk's starlink satellites, whether the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, or the disadvantages outweigh the benefits, are really worth considering.
No wonder many people are beginning to question whether the real purpose of the Starlink satellite is really for communication? Once the satellite is launched into the sky, its signal relay and information capture capabilities are probably only known to Space itself.
You know, a satellite can carry a variety of different equipment, especially the low-Earth orbit satellites in the Starlink satellite, often have a strong ability to expand the function, if these satellites are only used for communication, Musk is really profitable?
In any case, the Starlink satellites can not completely skip 5G, to achieve a new mode of communication covering the earth, straight to 6G is probably just a joke.
Earth is the common home of mankind, and once the orbit of a low-Earth satellite is occupied, the cost of cleaning up space junk will be high. At present, in addition to communication, the use behind the Starlink satellite is worth pondering.