- Carey takes Australia to 270 in 2nd ODI against England after collapse
- Two Hezbollah leaders killed in Israel's Beirut strike
- Hungary Danube waters reach decade high after Storm Boris
- Bagnaia cuts Martin's MotoGP lead with Emilia-Romagna sprint win
- Jackson double fires Chelsea to victory at woeful West Ham
- Fiji beat Japan to lift Pacific Nations Cup
- Kasatkina to face Haddad Maia in Korea Open final
- S.Africa snowfall closes roads, strands motorists overnight
- Lawyers of women alleging Al-Fayed sex abuse receive over 150 new enquiries
- President Museveni's son backs Ugandan strongman for 7th term
- Norris quickest as Verstappen bounces back in Singapore practice
- Wallabies lament All Blacks' fast start
- Germany's Oktoberfest opens under tight security after attacks
- Environmental protesters block French cruise liner port
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli strike kills top commanders
- No place like home: Biden hosts 'Quad' leaders
- One dead, 7 missing as heavy rains trigger floods in central Japan
- Zelensky says no UK, US go-ahead to use long-range missiles
- New Zealand edge Australia 31-28 in Bledisloe Cup thriller
- Japan orders evacuations as heavy rains trigger floods in quake-hit area
- New Zealand pilot freed in Indonesia after 19 months in rebel captivity
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli air strike kills top commanders
- Leading climate activist released from Vietnam jail
- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
- Nice hand 'ashamed' Saint-Etienne 8-0 Ligue 1 mauling
- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
- Stock markets mostly fall after Fed-fueled rally
- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Gurbaz, birthday boy Rashid lead Afghanistan to 177-run rout of South Africa
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
The race to dominate satellite internet heats up
Though satellite internet has existed for years, the competition is about to rapidly intensify, with companies planning to launch thousands of their own systems into low Earth orbit.
The latest move in the industry came on Tuesday from Amazon, which took a major step towards getting its $10 billion Kuiper constellation off the ground by sealing deals with three rocket companies.
The US online retail giant wants to strengthen its lucrative diversification into IT services, and "provide low-latency broadband to a wide range of customers," including those "working in locations without a reliable internet connection."
"Satellite solutions are an indispensable complement to fiber," said Stephane Israel, chief executive of Arianespace, one of the Amazon rocket providers.
"There are situations in which fiber is much too expensive compared to satellite connections, especially to reach the last inhabitant of a remote area," he explained.
In addition to the satellites themselves, Amazon plans "small, affordable client terminals" along the lines of Echo smart-homes and Kindle e-readers, and promises to "provide service at a price that is affordable and accessible to customers," with no further pricing details immediately.
Will Amazon be able to break through the increasingly crowded market?
Satellite internet already exists: US customers have access to HughesNet and Viasat, while in Europe, Orange subsidiary Nordnet -- among others -- uses the power of the Eutelsat Konnect satellite to offer broadband to its customers.
Costs for users start under 60 euros ($70) per month, excluding terminal and antenna, and increase according to the bandwidth.
But because these services use satellites at geostationary orbit -- more than 35,000 kilometers (22,000 miles) from Earth's surface -- their speed cannot match that of fiber, prohibiting use for high-speed tasks like gaming.
Amazon's future satellites, like those already launched by Starlink, a subsidiary of Elon Musk's SpaceX, will operate in low Earth orbit (LEO), only 600 km high.
- Low orbit more vulnerable -
"The advantage of LEO is that you reduce the latency, (and) by reducing the latency you maximize the uses," said Israel.
On the other hand, being closer to Earth makes it necessary to send many more spacecraft into orbit: more than 3,200 for Amazon, and thousands for Starlink, of which around 1,500 are already active.
British company OneWeb has launched 428 of the 648 satellites in its LEO constellation, and China plans to deploy around 13,000 "GuoWang" satellites.
Beyond the issues of national competition, the rapid expansion responds to an equally growing need.
In late March, the United Nation's International Telecommunication Union remarked that "once considered a luxury, internet connectivity became crucial for many during the COVID-19 pandemic as populations faced stay-at-home orders and many practices moved online."
"The need for bandwidth has skyrocketed around the world, and we will never launch enough satellites to meet the demand," predicts an executive AFP met this week in Colorado Springs, on the sidelines of the world's biggest space technology trade show.
But the bandwidth marketing specialist, who asked to remain anonymous, also noted that low-orbiting spacecraft are far more vulnerable than geostationary ones, as demonstrated by the recent loss of dozens of Starlinks after a magnetic storm.
As a result, "they will have to be constantly replaced."
The rocket companies will not mind that.
Y.Bouchard--BTB