Internet from Sky: Starlink

Journal of Management Engineering and Information Technology (JMEIT) Volume 8 Issue 2, Apr 2021, Online ISSN: 2394 - 8124 Impact Factor: SJIF - 6. 402 (2017) | 6. 265 (2016) | 4.564 (2015) Website: www.jmeit.com | E-mail: [email protected] | [email protected] “Internet From Sky: Starlink”, An Empirical Study on The Introductory Offer from Starlink In Pandemic Situation - Its Competition, Opportunity and Future in one of the world’s biggest consumer Market - India Pawan Kalyani [email protected] Abstract: The demand of high speed internet connectivity these require high speed internet services to do it smoothly. is in the high demand in the people all over the world due Many parts of India there is still problem of high speed to ongoing pandemic situation [COVID-19] and India is internet connectivity, in internet connectivity there is one of the most promising consumer markets of the world. downloading speed and uploading speed the uploading speed Starlink has given an introductory offer to the customers is usually low than downloading speed when the user like a all over the world including India to have the high speed student uploads their work at low upload speed and week internet from the “sky” from satellite, in current situation internet connectivity usually they lose the data and face where all the education and companies are going online for problems. Similarly, other industries and corporates also face their daily business and there is an acute demand for the some problems when people work from their home, not high speed internet connectivity. There is a demand and everyone has the corporate plans of internet at their home. Due there is a solution for that, directly from the “sky” but at to pandemic situation everyone is at home and everyone needs the same time there are other internet providers like the high speed internet connectivity for their education and Reliance JIO, Vodafone- Idea, Airtel and others who are work or entertainment. into FTTH, Mobile Internet and Internet from Satellite, people are already using Internet but the point of speed of In such scenario, the introductory offer from Elon Musk’s the Internet could be turning point. Another point to satellite internet service could be beneficial to the users who ponder the price that is $99 and $499, that could create require high speed internet and those who are not getting the some hurdles in the market as Indian economy is price internet services properly can be benefited. SpaceX, the sensitive and due to ongoing pandemic situation many company owned by technology billionaire Elon Musk, people are struggling to keep up with their jobs. announced it was developing such a service called Starlink, that could provide Internet anywhere in the world through In this research paper the author tries to find out the satellite. people view point on the Starlink’s introductory offer of providing Internet from SKY and other market condition Till now all the scenario feel good, people will get what they like competition with already established players in the want to move their business properly in this pandemic and market. lock down situation, the current research is restricted to the geographical limitation of India only. India is one of the Keywords: Internet from the sky, Starlink, Pandemic biggest consumer markets of the world and there could be situation, Reliance Jio, Vodafone- Idea, BSNL, Indian ample opportunity of doing business for Elon Musk. The point Market, LEO technology, Low latency. to ponder here is that people are suffering business losses and loss of jobs too, and the introductory price is in dollars as I. INTRODUCTION Starlink doesn’t any offices or registered company in India the user has to pay in Dollars only. The price is $99 per month In the pandemic situation there is a new hope from the sky the and $499 as installation kit charges includes a small circular hope of anywhere and high speed Internet services on the Starlink tracker antenna. The converted installation $499 earth. This could be the good business strategic planning as all amount in rupees it would be 37,321.98 Indian Rupees and, over the world people are facing difficulties in their business and they are opting online platform to do business and meetings schools and colleges are taking online classes all 1 All rights reserved © www.jmeit.com Journal of Management Engineering and Information Technology (JMEIT) Volume 8 Issue 2, Apr 2021, Online ISSN: 2394 - 8124 Impact Factor: SJIF - 6. 402 (2017) | 6. 265 (2016) | 4.564 (2015) Website: www.jmeit.com | E-mail: [email protected] | [email protected] What are the satellites like? Fig. 3. Showing an Image of Starlink Satellite in space Each satellite in this Elon Musk Starlink project weighs just 573 pounds (260kg). They are basically very flat and then when 60 of them are placed inside one of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Fig. 1. Showing the conversion of Dollar to Indian Rupees. rockets. When they are put in orbit, a single large solar array Source: www.google.com comes out to power the satellite. The main portion includes four powerful antennas for internet transmissions. They also have lasers that connect each satellite with four others in orbit. $99 would be, 7,405.90 in Indian Rupee the total initial Finally, they include ion thrusters that use krypton gas. This costing the user has to pay are 44727.88 Indian rupees. That allows them to stay in orbit longer even at these lower is comparatively very high in comparison to other internet distances from Earth. service providers. II. INTERNET FROM SKY- STRARLINK How fast will Starlink internet speeds be like? The SpaceX Starlink satellites will be in low orbit, around 350 miles above the Earth. Because of that relatively short distance, SpaceX claims the latency should be between 25ms and 35ms. That should be fast enough for most internet tasks, including gaming. Download speeds should also be pretty quick, at about 1Gbps. SpaceX has yet to confirm what upload speeds will be like. A recent thread on Reddit claims that the early beta tests for Starlink speeds show download speeds of between 37Mbps and 60Mbps, with upload speeds from between 4.5Mbps and 17.70Mbps. These speeds have been unconfirmed by Fig. 2. Showing an artistic Imagination of Starlink Satellite around the SpaceX. In a CNN article, emails reportedly sent by Starlink Earth. to possible beta testers stated that speeds for them will be How does Starlink work? “50Mb/s to 150Mb/s and latency from 20ms to 40ms”. The emails added that Starlink expects to improve on those speeds Once it becomes fully operational, Starlink will be able to offer internet access from virtually anywhere on the planet. in the coming months. Indeed, a Reddit thread on download The goal of the Elon Musk Starlink effort is to launch speeds show that they are being recorded at 150Mbps at the thousands of small satellites, all of which will be in low Earth moment. [2] orbit. They will be able to transmit fast internet signals down to Earth. [1] 2 All rights reserved © www.jmeit.com Journal of Management Engineering and Information Technology (JMEIT) Volume 8 Issue 2, Apr 2021, Online ISSN: 2394 - 8124 Impact Factor: SJIF - 6. 402 (2017) | 6. 265 (2016) | 4.564 (2015) Website: www.jmeit.com | E-mail: [email protected] | [email protected] about six months. In late October, according to CNN, people How many satellites have been launched so far? who expressed interest in signing up for the service received emails asking them to sign up for what the company called the “Better Than Nothing Beta” test. In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission in February 2021, SpaceX stated that it has it has signed up 10,000 customers for its Starlink beta test. The full service is expected to launch sometime in 2021. In December, the Federal Communications Commission awarded SpaceX $856 million. The deal is designed to support Starlink so it can offer internet access to rural parts of the US in 35 states. Where will SpaceX Starlink internet first be available on Earth? Fig. 4. Showing launching of Starlink Satellite in space. The company launched its first test satellites in 2018. This was followed by the first official 60 satellites for the service in 2019. As of this writing, SpaceX has put up about 1,000 of the satellites into orbit. The latest launch happened in late January 2021. At least two launches are planned for early February 2021. Later in 2021, the program plans to have as many as three launches a month, again with 60 Starlink satellites on each rocket. Fig. 5. Showing image from Starlink Homepage Source: https://www.starlink.com/ How many satellites will be needed for the service? Musk stated the private beta would first be available for The company has received permission from the US Federal people in “high latitudes”. The company has clarified that the Communications Commission (FCC) to put as many as 12,000 beta would launch first for residents in Canada, along with the SpaceX Starlink satellites above the planet. Basically, it will northern portions of the United States. The plan is to expand form a kind of “Starlink constellation” in the sky. SpaceX to other parts of the world in 2021. would like to put even more satellites above the Earth. Ultimately, the “Starlink constellation” could have as many as 42,000 satellites in orbit. The Antenna How much will Starlink internet access cost? In a CNN article, an email reportedly from Starlink is inviting people to try out the service. The email claims that it will cost $499 for a one-time cost for the ground hardware, and $99 a month for the actual internet service.

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