SpaceX has been pioneering satellite innovations. To date, there are 1,500 Starlink satellites are currently in orbit. This growth has been partly buoyed by a Federal Communications Commission decision to approve a license modification sought by SpaceX.
Internet for all?
Starlink is currently offering a beta service, with data speeds varying from 50Mb/s to 150Mb/s and latency from 20ms to 40ms in most locations. From this, as more satellites are launched and networking software, develops, then data speed, latency and uptime will improve. SpaceX has launched more than 600 new Starlinks this year, typically launching 60 at a time.
The objectives of Starlink are, ultimately, to provide the world with faster Internet, starting by improving Internet access in parts of the world that are underserved by broadband providers.
The ambition is captured in the following quote from Musk: “We’re really talking about something that is, in the long term, like rebuilding the Internet in space.”
However, to meet Elon Musk’s ambitions for satellite communications, Space X has been seeking new partners to work with, and this process has led to an new acquisition being announced.
Space X starts to ‘swarm’
SpaceX has taken a further step into the satellite market by purchasing the U.S. satellite Internet of Things (IoT) startup Swarm Technologies. In doing so, the buy-out adds low data rate services to Space X’s portfolio.
Swarm’s satellite modem, the Swarm Tile, retails for $119 and it is designed to be embedded into a circuit board design. It connects IoT devices to the company’s network, providing two-way data transfer.
According to the acquired company: “Swarm’s services will benefit from the better capitalization and access to resources available to SpaceX, as well as the synergies associated with acquisition by a provider of satellite design, manufacture, and launch services.”
The deal, according to EE News, adds Swarm’s 121 picosatellite LEO constellation to the SpaceX StarLink broadband data constellation. The acquisition enables Swarm to launch many more satellites more cost effectively, using the SpaceX Falcon. Swarm is also one of two satellite constellations providing low cost data links using the LoRa low power wide area network (LPWAN) protocol.
While the advances with satellite communications is promising, there are risks in terms of the downplaying of competition to SpaceX. The new arrangement with Swarm, as an example, creates a major challenger for other companies in the ‘space’, such as the European IoT satellite service providers OQ Technology and R3-IoT.
