Night before last, we looked up to the stars and right at that minute saw a long train of lights traveling across the night sky. They were closely packed together, and at first glance looked a little ominous. A quick Google search eased the angst – Starlink satellites. Last night, I went outside at approximately the same time, and there they were again – this time not as many but enough to still be a pretty awesome sight.
The idea behind these satellites: provide broadband internet to every corner of the globe. Traditional internet satellites orbit the earth around 36,000 kilometers high, while Starlink satellites orbit the earth at around 550 kilometers in altitude. Why so low? Reduced latency. What happens when latency is reduced? Broadband connectivity and response time is fast. When a satellite is beaming a signal from 36,000 kilometers there will be extended latency. Ask any online gamer, or stock trader why latency matters, they will tell you it’s a toss up between winning and losing, being first or coming in last.
So the next time you’re standing outside looking up into the night sky and see for a brief moment, a long line of lights, know that’s where the internet is receiving and dispatching data back and forth from orbit to earth, to metro areas and rural locations (that never had internet) truly making the world a smaller place than we originally anticipated. Want to find out where and when you might see the train in the sky? Here’s how: Find Starlink in the Night Sky.
It’s fascinating to see how far technology has come. Trying to understand how it all works is a mystery.
