LEO or Low Earth Orbit Satellites orbit around 500 to 2000Kms from earth’s surface capable of delivering low latency of less than [1] 40mS (RTT- Round Trip Time) compared to 1000-1700 mS ( RTT ) of Geostationary Satellites (35000 Km above equator; operating in Ka Band ). LEO Satellites operate in Ka or V band ( 26.5 to 75 GHz ). Higher frequencies enable higher data rates and security by packing more antennas and narrower beams. But the flip side is such high frequencies can cause attenuation due to atmospheric absorption.
The pandemic and growth of Cloud has paved the way for extremely high demand for high throughput consumer broadband which can be enabled by Satellite Broadband. Their winning feature of Frequency reuse and onboard data processing, with low latency compared to traditional FSS, will eventually pave way for the emergence, dominance, and sustenance of Satellite Broadband Services. This market of satellite manufacturing, operations, launch, and consumer equipment has a potential of tens of billions of dollars. Plus, it promises more consumers access to internet connectivity. This is a good enough driving factor for this market to thrive, grow, and stay!!
