Roger Horner is the founder and CEO of e3Systems since 1996. He has been a contributorfor The Islander Magazine since 1997.
Are GEO better than LEO? Is Starlink set for world domination? Roger Horner brings is this month’s update from the world of technology.
July was hot in Mallorca, and August continued the same way until the now infamously biblical end-of-summer storm struck. Many trees were uprooted or snapped off, and vehicles crushed by falling trees.
When the heat is that high, the best place to be is on the water. During the late August storm there were several yachts anchored off Illetas that I could see were regretting the decision during Mallorca’s mini tornado.
Not even fibre connectivity is perfect!
At e3, one of our main services is providing and supporting connectivity to yachts anywhere at sea. This is a 24/7 job as there is a lot of technology required to provide it and there is always something to go wrong, ranging from mast shadow, equipment failure, poor signal and satellite failure to overheating panels. During the storm in Portals Nous, trees tore down telegraph poles as the fell, together with the overhead fibre network. In some places, it took out the power infrastructure as well. The power was restored quickly but in a few places the fibre infrastructure is still down weeks later. Our customers wouldn’t accept that, and neither would we!
I am surprised that providers haven’t considered installing a Starlink Residential or Business system!
Starlink doesn’t work well if it’s installed using Velcro!
We have supplied nearly 100 Starlink systems since 1st June, and we haven’t been able to install them all ourselves – some clients even preferred to manage this personally. We provide instructions and advice, but I can honestly say we have never, ever, suggested using Velcro to mount the panel on the deck! However, one of our clients did just this and in the first spate of high winds it was blown clean off, never to be seen again! Our first recommendation is always to use a proper mount such as this fantastic sailboat solution, devised by BMComposites.
How to watch every game of the 2023 Rugby World Cup for free!
Have you been struggling to watch the Rugby World Cup? The tournament runs from September 8th to October 28th. Every game is shown exclusively on the UK’s ITV1 and ITV4 channels in English, which can be watched using our e3 IPTV service, which doesn’t require a VPN!
As a special e3 Rugby World Cup offer, we are including e3.IPTV free for six months with every Starlink order placed or moved to us between now and 31st October, 2023.
The latest LEO and GEO news
Telesat’s Lightspeed LEO constellation is now fully funded.
It’s been touch and go over the last couple of years for Canadian satellite operator, Telesat, and its Lightspeed LEO satellite constellation, with extended negotiations over financing delaying the delivery. The original proposal was for a constellation of 300 satellites, but this was decreased by 100 after it encountered financing issues.
In a surprise announcement in early August, the company confirmed that the long-awaited constellation is now fully funded and that it has placed the contracts to build the 198 satellites needed for the system. Lightspeed satellite launches are now scheduled to commence in mid-2026 and polar and global services scheduled to begin in late 2027.
Are GEO satellites more reliable than the new LEO satellites?
We have been led to believe over the last few years, by the GEO satellite operators, that the new LEO satellites will be unreliable as the operators do not have the experience that GEO operators have had over many years. Well, there has been a second failure of a new GEO satellite in as many months, so I am not sure how justified that claim is now.
There is typically only one GEO satellite from a GEO operator for a fixed but limited footprint of the earth. If the operator launches a second one for the same footprint it is to increase the capacity, which is rare. So, if a GEO satellite is lost, unlike LEO satellites, of which there are hundreds, there is no backup until a new satellite is launched, which can often be months later.
The story goes that after Viasat’s loss of their Viasat-3 satellite, which I reported last month, they have now announced that the Inmarsat-6 F2 satellite could be a total loss due to an anomaly with the power subsystem that occurred during orbit raising. Viasat, who now own Inmarsat, and the satellite manufacturer Airbus are investigating the cause of the issue and trying to establish whether the satellite will be able to perform its mission.
Airbus advised the anomaly is an “unprecedented event,” as it has never had a telecommunications satellite fail in orbit! It might have been unprecedented for Airbus but sadly, it’s not for Viasat!
The phenomenal Starlink growth may now represent 40% of SpaceX’s $8 billion revenue in 2023.
Diving deeper into the numbers, roughly 75% of Starlink’s projected $3.2 billion 2023 revenues is likely to be service subscriptions across its residential, business and mobility segments, with the 25% balance being driven by hardware sales.
In terms of active subscribers, Starlink’s user base is expected to double from an estimated 1.1 million in January 2023 to approximately 2.2 million by the end of 2023, driven by a mix of factors including aggressive hardware price discounts, new distribution channels and a continued expansion of available capacity and the steady increase in the number of active countries.
The residential market, together with the old RV and now Roam market dominates and is estimated to be >85% of active subscriptions. The pace of residential subscriber sign ups is expected to moderate over the course of the year due to continued capacity constraints in high demand areas such as the US.
While Starlink has yet to publicly disclose the number of subscribers for its higher revenue per user ‘business’ plans, the segment could account for 10% to 15% of active subscribers given indicative take-up for civil government projects and corporate networks.
Starlink has made impressive progress in maritime markets since introducing services in 2022. As of mid-2023, it is estimated that more than 4,000 vessels, many with multiple user terminals, had committed to Starlink with the majority set to activate service by the end of the year. We expect every cruise ship will have at least one Starlink panel by end of 2023.
