How Starlink will significantly lower its connection latency and why it is essential

Starlink, you know. It is a constellation of satellites that provides an internet connection anywhere on Earth. In a house, in a car, on a smartphone, on a plane… and in theory, anywhere.

Satellite internet has been around for a long time, but Elon Musk’s solution is different. Starlink relies on a constellation of several thousand satellites deployed by SpaceX.

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Another difference: these satellites are located at an altitude of 550 kilometers compared to 36,000 kilometers for traditional geostationary satellites. This helps deliver speeds and an experience that no other satellite connection offers.

We can already obtain peak download speeds of over 400 Mbps with a small antenna. A flow rate that increases as the constellation grows. We should reach 1 Gbps in the years to come, which is as good as a traditional fiber optic connection.

Latency, a new challenge

In the frantic race for space internet, impressive throughput figures often make headlines. However, it is another parameter, less publicized, but just as important, which could well make the difference: latency. Recent data published by the Australian Competition Authority (ACCC) highlights this technical issue.

The comparison between Starlink and the Australian national service NBN Sky Muster is edifying: while Starlink has an average latency of 29.8 milliseconds, its traditional competitor tops out at 664.9 milliseconds. This difference, which may seem insignificant to the novice, radically transforms the user experience.

To understand the importance of these numbers, let’s imagine a video conversation. With a latency of 665 milliseconds, each party must wait more than half a second before receiving the other’s response, making natural communication virtually impossible. Conversely, Starlink’s 30 milliseconds approximate the experience of a typical terrestrial connection.

Altitude, key to performance

But Elon Musk explained that Starlink intends to do even better. As the CEO of SpaceX pointed out, this difference in altitude makes Starlink satellites approximately 65 times closer than their geostationary competitors. Even more impressive, the next generation of satellites, planned at 350 kilometers altitude, will multiply this advantage by more than 100.

This race to low altitude is not, however, without its counterparts. The lower the satellites, the more limited their coverage, requiring a much larger constellation to provide overall service. This is the price to pay for this latency revolution.

The implications of this technical advance go far beyond simple communications. Online gaming, telemedicine, or even high-frequency financial applications could find opportunities in these low-orbit constellations that were previously impossible to envisage via satellite.

The challenges of an ever lower orbit

First major challenge: mesh density. At 350 kilometers altitude, the coverage area of ​​each satellite is significantly reduced compared to the current constellation at 550 kilometers.

This reduction in coverage area mathematically requires a much larger number of satellites to maintain continuous service. However, with already more than 5,000 satellites in orbit, Starlink alone represents more than half of the active satellites around the Earth.

Physics also imposes its constraints at very low altitude. At 350 kilometers, the residual atmosphere, although tenuous, exerts significant drag on the satellites. This increased atmospheric resistance has two major consequences: greater energy consumption to maintain the orbit and a reduced lifespan of the satellites. These will probably need to be replaced more frequently, which will automatically increase the number of launches required. And here, we’re not even talking about the environmental and financial cost.

Furthermore, this densification of low orbit raises concerns in the scientific community. Astronomers are already worried about the impact of current constellations on their observations. A significant increase in the number of satellites would only exacerbate this problem.

The reflection of sunlight from these objects creates light trails that can disrupt astronomical observations, particularly during twilight hours.