Airbus Defence and Space Selected for OneWeb Satellites Constellation

?v=ZjpopfVJf1c

  • Inside the race to create the next generation of #satellite internet - Quartz
    http://qz.com/434997/inside-the-race-to-create-the-next-generation-of-satellite-internet

    Greg Wyler’s OneWeb and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, both say that within the next three years they will build, launch and operate hundreds, if not thousands, of satellites flying in a low orbit around the earth to provide broadband internet. It’s an ambitious attempt to double the number of satellites orbiting earth—and succeed at a business that tends to break companies.
     
    “This is intended to generate a significant amount of revenue and help fund a city on Mars.”
     
    Industry insiders say this race has taken on the aspect of a feud: In 2014, Wyler and Musk discussed collaborating (paywall) on this effort before a shake-up left them on opposite sides. Wyler’s new company is backed by Musk’s rival in space, Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson, and Qualcomm, while Musk raised $1 billion from Google, which had previously considered working with Wyler on satellite internet. Update, 6/25: OneWeb announced that it has secured $500 million in initial investment from additional partners Airbus, Bharti Enterprises, Hughes Network Systems, Intelsat, Coca-Cola and Totalplay.

    (...) Wyler’s ace in the hole is that he filed first, in 2012 and 2013, for an ITU license to transmit along a band of radio frequencies called the Ku band, which are uniquely-suited to satellite transmissions because they work best with the latest generation of satellite antennae, replacing bulkier satellite dishes. Combined with cheaper satellites flying closer to earth, engineers believe that it is possible to solve the high-lag problem that plagues current satellite internet.

    Under the first-come, first-serve rules governing the ITU, if Wyler can get his satellites up and operating on those frequencies by the end 2019, he has the rights to use them, and there’s not much the ITU can do to force him to cooperate with anyone else

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjpopfVJf1c

    #espace #internet #silicon_valley #silicon_army (plein d’infos)