The Current State and Future of Space Internet the Space generation Perspective 33rd Space Symposium, Colorado Springs

Introduction Working group purpose: Investigate possibilities and risks of using satellites, drones, and high altitude balloons to provide widespread access to internet - Internet increasingly viewed as a basic commodity - Non-traditional space companies eyeing the opportunity to offer "sky-fi” - New potential technological ideas - Emerging policy implications 201! Almost 4 billion people left without internet access – o3b, oneweb objective

Background - Primary method of global connectivity historically delivered through deep-sea fibre-optic links - Extensive network connecting continents - Local networks established through wi-fi, cellular and satellite communications - Almost 4 billion people left without internet access

Global Connectivity Challenges - Infrastructure costs are strong barrier to connectivity compounded - Expense of connecting widely dispersed populations over large areas - National infrastructure underdeveloped, unable to fulfil demand - Further made difficult by lack of required adjacent infrastructure, such as electricity - Issues of demand given lack of basic services

Context - Companies like Google and Facebook working to use drones and balloons to provide internet access - SpaceX and OneWeb propose to do the same with satellites - These approaches have raised technical, regulatory and policy questions Technical/policy challenges? e.g. OneWeb claims of 100x performance improvement while expecting 100x reduction in cost! Regulatory issues e.g. market access, global licensing needs

Technologies and Network Approaches The solutions to global networking challenges likely combine multiple technologies Technologies RF - Tens of Giga-Hertz Optical - Tens of Tera-Hertz - EDRS Network Approaches - Discrete Morse Theory - Topological Data Analysis - Quantum Satellite Networks (QKD) Talk about challenges RF: finite resource, spectrum interference, rain attenuation at higher frequencies Optical – need precise pointing

Balloons – Project Loon - Portable, easy to deploy Inexpensive, but frequently replaced - Short range - Many individual nodes - Increases networking complexity

Drones – Facebook Aquila - Rapid response - Emergency services usage - More expensive than balloons - Many nodes → complicates networking

Satellites – LEO/MEO ConstellAtions - Long range - Large coverage area - Global relay network - High initial costs - R&D and launch availability bottleneck

Recommendations and Conclusions Conduct market studies to identify key demand areas Institute a phased approach of network and ensure technical/commercial viability Let governments serve as anchor users and help expedite regulatory processes Provide future connectivity to ISPs to ensure commercial sustainability

THANK YOU! Authors: Laszlo Bacsardi – University of West Hungary Roger Birkeland – Norwegian University of Science and Technology Andreas Hornig – University of Stuttgart Brandon Morrison – Durham University Mansoor Shar – International Space University Yevgeny Tsodikovich – Tel Aviv University

Image Credits www.rack.1.mshcdn.com www.nasa.gov www.spacetoday.org/images/Sats/MilSats/DSCS_SatInSpaceLockheedMartin.jpg http://www.theinquirer.net/IMG/229/314229/facebook-aquila-drone.jpg media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/shrinknp_800_800/p/5/005/09c/39e/375516e.jpg www.google.com www.facebook.com www.spacex.com www.oneweb.world