Germany is a leading
industrial nation — but still has many
areas that desperately lag behind on the
telecoms front. And that applies to both
landlines and Internet access. Though broadband speed
rankings constantly fluctuate, Germany ranks in the mid-30s
compared to other countries. And while other countries
pick up the pace, Germany is struggling
to keep up. Might one solution be an
extra-terrestrial one? Providing high-speed
Internet for everyone? The Earth’s orbit
will soon be home to new constellations of
satellites in the thousands. Could they make
the vision of fast connectivity everywhere
on Earth a reality? Which regions in Germany have
the worst Internet connection? And how is performance
measured? The engineering consultancy
group P3 specializes in gauging the signal
strength of networks for mobile phone and
internet providers. Its fleet of several dozen
cars ferries its specialists all across Europe to detect
any gaps in coverage. The technicians measure the surfing
speed of various websites, including the up- and download
of data, and video streaming. Aborted transfers
and sluggish, intermittent connectivity indicate
deficits in network quality. The phones are connected
to a computer, where a sound file
is being played. The first phone calls
the second one. Once that call is over,
there’s a brief pause, and then the second phone
calls the first one. And that is repeated
all day long, so as to objectively
determine the voice quality. The team also use speed-test
websites to check DSL and landline connections on millions
of computers worldwide. That enables Olaf Gerwig,
Thomas Prefi and their fellow-engineers
in Aachen to give providers an overview
of global networks. The information
reveals how well or poorly competitors
are performing. This is data gathered from
users around the world. We’ve developed a
piece of software that is integrated
in about 900 apps — and these apps
are installed on around 200 million
devices worldwide. When users agree to be involved
in network quality assessment, this app will register the
actual user experience. Wherever the user is using
their device to download material or view videos, we
can see in the background how good the network
coverage was — whether it was 3G or 4G, which
country, which provider, and a lot of other
information. We get our information not via
the users but via the networks. The biggest bottlenecks
in coverage within Germany are in the
east of the country. But some of the worst
Internet connection is down in the
southwest — in the area around the
town of Bad Säckingen. Jürgen Albiez has
teamed up with other local residents
calling for free Internet. And the local authorities
are also helping to set up WiFi hotspots
across the area. The only alternative is to
use mobile-phone providers across the border in Switzerland
— albeit at a price. Coverage from Switzerland
is great here. I have a weak signal
for a German network — and strong signals
for two Swiss ones. Being unable to
access data while on the road is a major
problem for companies. I can’t do aftersales or
carry out jobs or orders. I can’t give my clients
any information. And the emergency services
can’t get the data and information they need to help
people who’ve had an accident. Some areas here are so
remote that network providers are reluctant to invest
in installing broadband cables. And that includes places
along some of Germany’s highways and other
non-urban roads. So, you can’t use the
time on the road for a couple of phone
conversations because the call will cut out every
two or three minutes — so you have
to reconnect. It’s not
worth it. People who have an accident
out here might get lucky and pick up a couple
of radiowaves. Otherwise they have
to walk to the next inhabited building and
ask for assistance. Basically like in
the year 1900. Those beautiful landscapes can
also cause major headaches when it comes to expanding
network coverage. The problem is
the topography. Bad Säckingen
is in a valley, surrounded by the
Black Forest hills — features that are unfavorable
for network planners. And it’s practically
impossible to provide that density of coverage with
conventional technology. And here, too, there
are companies that are completely
dependent on fast broadband connections to
the rest of the world. Eschbach Software
specializes in the digitalization of the
global working world, providing solutions
for shift schedules and interactive
management. Bad Säckingen is home
to both the company’s R&D department and its
global sales division. The company would have had
to close its premises in the town had it
not been for some smart solutions devised
by its own developers. We have video conferences
here every day — online presentations, remote
system configurations, and online
training sessions. And that requires a fast
Internet connection. Our founder and director
Andreas Eschbach is based in
Boston in the US. So, we also need a good
connection to that office too. We have this hunger for data,
and it’s growing every day. Down in the basement the
software engineers managed to solve their
Internet problem by combining a range of
different elements. We’ve linked up a number
of Internet connections — a DSL line, a
cable connection, and we’re now
planning to throw a third anchor across
the Swiss border. Basically, there’s an
excellent LTE network just a few hundred
meters away, and we’re linking up
all these lines to create a very fast
Internet connection. Technical obstacles alone mean
that make-shift solutions like this are not an option
for private individuals. And that’s a gap that Jürgen
Albiez wants to fill. He and his fellow free-Internet
activists have installed free WiFi in most public
buildings in Bad Säckingen. That’s crystal-clear
reception! The big network providers,
or most of them, offer customers a
Voice-Over-IP option. The advantage there is that people
can then make phone calls via WiFi. So, with the
right contract, you can now phone people
for free, via Internet. Bad Säckingen already
has dozens of free internet terminals enabling local
people to surf and make phone calls. Jürgen Albiez has set
his sights even higher, however on “Fiber
in the Sky”, a fast Internet
connection via satellite. “Fiber in the Sky” is
definitely an option. It avoids the need to dig
up roads everywhere — which is what prevents
network expansion. Providing the right bandwidth
here via fiber-optic cables means laying 3, 4 or 5
kilometers of cables. That’s extremely expensive in a
hilly area with hard ground. “Fiber in the Sky”
comes from above. Everyone has their own
direct receiver — and high-speed
Internet. Kourou in French-Guyana
is the launchpad for Airbus and Arianespace
satellites. They orbit the Earth at an altitude
of 36 thousand kilometers — and always above
the same point. They serve primarily to transfer
TV and radio broadcasts. The geostationary
communications satellites are assembled in
Toulouse, France. They weigh up to 6 tons, and have
an operating life of 25 years. Each satellite is highly
complex and custom-built, and can cost up to
250 million euros. And that’s why current
satellite-based internet connections
are so expensive. Demand for this option, however,
is continually on the rise. Varinka Ponamalé has been
part of a revolution in satellite design in
recent years from individual components
to mass production. In fact today, from the design
to the delivery to the customer, we can provide satellites
in less than two years. For us it’s
quite short. An innovation in power
technology systems heralded a new era in satellite
construction. For Satellites, Airbus
developed electric propulsion. So, it’s for us a big gain
in terms of mass at launch and it allows us to have
more equipment on board and have limiting costs
at launch as well. Geostationary satellites
orbit the Earth at a distance of 36
thousand kilometers. Even at light-speed, a
signal down below needs 500 milliseconds to
reach a satellite — that's half
a second. That delay or “latency”
during phone calls means that the people talking constantly
interrupt each other. In order to ensure a smooth
online-gaming experience, that time has to be
under 100 milliseconds. A delay of just 20 milliseconds
will cause orchestra musicians to fall out of
sync with each other. With effective Internet
reception not possible with current
geostationary orbits, the satellites need to
be brought closer — to what is called
“low-Earth orbit”. Companies planning to install
satellite constellations include OneWeb, Google-SpaceX, and
Amazon's Blue Origin. The closer a satellite
is to Earth, the smaller the terrestrial
surface it can reach — which is why it would
take hundreds if not thousands of smaller satellites
to cover the entire planet. And that is a problem alone in
terms of production capacity. The consortium led by
OneWeb also includes Virgin Galactic, Airbus Defense &
Space and tech giant Softbank. Together they have pooled close
to 3.5 billion dollars to make the dream of global
Internet access a reality. Airbus has provided its
specific expertise to enable the mass
production of satellites. That was a big
challenge. As you know we are
really experienced in Geo Big satellites
production. But for mass production it
was a challenge to provide a satellite in a few days
compared to here, where we have, here in Toulouse integration
takes about 9 months, and three days was really
crazy for the market. So today we developed a lot on
OneWeb satellite facilities. Capacity is currently at
one satellite per day. OneWeb plans to launch its global
service in 2021 with 650 satellites, orbiting at an altitude
of 1,200 kilometers. The next step involves
the constellation being expanded to more than
two thousand units, which has in turn required
the development of completely new
production methods. Roche Desrousseaux
is a test engineer. He oversees a production
setup that manages with a minimum
of human input. The newly designed
propulsion systems are also built here in
scaled-down versions. The fuel tanks filled
with xenon-gas are provided by an
unexpected source. Here is how the spacecraft
is going to move from one point in space
to the other. For instance, the rocket
is going to put the spacecraft at a
certain altitude. But then the satellites need to
reach a much higher altitude. And the way it’s going to do that
is by use the electrical thruster. This tank normally it is
used for firefighters. It’s designed by a company which
didnt really know how to use space. But it’s much cheaper then
more traditional tanks. Once Sebastian is done
with all the assembly. Again, we really want
to avoid human errors. So, the way we are
going to do that is, we are going to take a picture
with these two cameras up here and the picture will be compared
to a reference picture. And based on the differences
it will be able to say Sebastian has done
a good job or not. With human error
essentially ruled out, high-volume production is possible
with short turnaround times. When you are doing 900
satellites of a kind it’s easier to get cheaper in
the recommended price. In terms of testing, we are
also doing less testing so we need fewer people
so it’s cheaper. And it’s an order of magnitude
maybe like a bit more than a 100 — so if you want to buy this satellite
it will be roughly a million and if you want to
buy a Geo-Satellite it’s going to be way
more than that. OneWeb, and also Google-SpaceX
and Amazon plan to offer their Internet services
everzwhere on Earth — in the process getting four
billion people online. London-based OneWeb has
an official license from the country’s
aerospace authority — and sees itself on a mission
to bridge the digital divide. The company’s current and potential
future clientele includes banks, airlines, shipping
companies, industry, disaster relief agencies,
and the military. End-consumers will
initially be able to book the service via local
telecom providers. And, as already seen in
the mobile phone sector, the price will be lower in Africa
than in Germany, for example. Mike Lindsay previously worked
in systems engineering for NASA, and is part of the design team for
the OneWeb satellite constellation. The company was the first
among the competing consortia to receive
approval from the International
Telecommunications Union — a United Nations
agency. And that license is absolutely
mandatory for providing the service. The OneWeb System uses
Radiofrequency Spectrum in order to send Information
to customers. To provide this broadband
internet connectivity. You need spectrum, letś say
a span of radio wavelengths in order to transmit information
at high data-rates. The more spectrum that you have, the
more data that you can provide. And because you and I are used
to these broadband speeds, being able to stream
video and send information very quickly
back and forth. We need a lot of spectrum,
in order to provide that type of service
to so many people. Designing a constellation of
satellites in constant contact with each other and the Earth
is a complex undertaking. It involves a number
of technical processes to function at
the same time — processes that have
no precedents. The brain of the
constellation — the Ground Network Operations
Center — is in London. It’s headed by
Allan Hewitt. At OneWeb weŕe responsible for
looking after the Ground Network. So, we do two core functions,
first of all we provide situational awareness, so
we look for anomalies in the ground Network,
where they occur, we work to resolve them
as quickly as possible. And secondly, we do what
we call resource planning. And the resource plan is really the
brains of how the system works. This brings together the
ground Network, the antennas, the spacecraft and the payload
and the actual user terminals. The ground stations
run automatically and are fitted
with 30 antennae — each maintaining contact
with 30 satellites. There are currently just two
fully functional stations — one in Spitzbergen, Norway,
and the other on Sicily. For complete global coverage
distributed across the planet, you would need just
45 ground stations — all
inter-connected. Very quickly, we are going to
scale up, come Q2 next year, we’re going to be adding three
ground stations every month. So that a huge ramp up to
what we are doing today. Today is all about testing and
integration and next year is all about bringing those
ground stations into service. The ground stations always seek
the best-possible connection — to the satellite that is
closest to the user and can provide the
best-possible bandwidth. The relevant signal shifts from
one satellite to another — with the user remaining
blissfully unaware. The OneWeb consortium
is currently ahead of rivals Google-SpaceX
and Amazon. And by the end of
2021 it hopes to have a constellation numbering
650 satellites. Either way the Earth’s
orbit is set to get a lot of traffic
in the near future. How will the engineers ensure
that there are no collisions? So, something we’re doing
at OneWeb is actually enhancing our safety by separating
each plane in the constellation, so there are multiple planes
of multiple satellites each and if theyŕe all
at the same altitude you have a sort of crossing-point
where satellites are zipping past each other
at very high velocities. So, what we do, we separate
these crossing points, so the satellites are actually
not zipping past one another. What that means is
we’re actually, in some regards we only have to
manage one single plane at a time. And you can apply that same
principle to other constellations. So, we are maintaining
many kilometers of separation
between SpaceX, and SpaceX is separated from the
Kuiper, the Amazon Constellation. And that’s a very
important safety detail, to make sure that operators
are not trying to launch and operate hundreds or
thousands of satellites within the same
amount of space. Satellite constellations are not the
only inhabitants of Earth’s orbit. There is serious traffic
in immediate outer space. In addition to countless
disused satellites, there are spent rocket elements,
fragments of exploded spacecraft and other space
debris circling the planet. The result is a growing
orbital scrap-yard, now comprising 20
thousand objects with a diameter of 10
centimeters or more. They’re joined by 700
thousand smaller objects of at least one
centimeter in size. And the speed at which they move
makes them extremely dangerous. If there is a collision in
space, it can be catastrophic. Objects in earth’s orbit are
typically travelling at 25,000 km/h. And even a small object,
say ten centimeters, can carry enough
energy to fragment a large satellite into
thousands of pieces. And so, if such
an event occurs, now you go from one satellite
and one piece of debris to thousands of
pieces of debris. And each of those pieces of debris
might carry enough energy to again, fragment a different
satellite. And so, there is this fear
of this sort of chain reaction where one
collision creates debris, that debris strikes
another satellite creating even
more debris. There are still
no rules on the behavior of satellite
constellations — whether traffic-related
or on safety or ethics. The only stipulation is a ban on
stationing weapons in Earth’s orbit. And that the satellites have to be
safely de-orbited after 25 years. OneWeb has decided to let
its satellites expire in the atmosphere after an operational
life of just five years. The major space-going
nations are working on sophisticated near-Earth
radar systems to prevent satellite
collisions. Germany’s Aerospace
Center, the DLR, is using a missile-defense
system from the German military in conjunction
with the famous Fraunhofer Gesellschaft
research group. The TIRA-Radar facility outside
Bonn in western Germany is the only one in Europe that
can track and depict objects in orbit up to two
centimeters in diameter. Manuel Metz and his colleagues
have been conducting precise measurements on
space debris in order to prevent the need for evasive
action by active satellites. If you have an object that you
are especially interested in because it is threatening to
collide with your own satellite, then you can use this system
to re-measure its orbit and obtain more
precise data. That gives you a better
risk assessment — whether a collision
is actually imminent or whether such a collision
can be ruled out. There are several collision
alerts every day. Evasive maneuvers are only needed
two or three times a year. But the scientists' models project
a collision in orbit triggered by space debris every
five to ten years. Just how crucial this
surveillance is, became clear in early
September 2019, when a satellite in the SpaceX
Starlink constellation was approaching a weather
satellite belonging to the European
Space Agency. ESA tried and failed to persuade
SpaceX to take evasive action. But with no response from
the American company, the agency had to force its 400
million-euro weather satellite into a “collision
avoidance maneuver”. Whether SpaceX was unwilling
to take action or incapable due to a lack of control
over the satellites remains unclear. Provided the systems
work really well and have a very high
level of reliability, operating these satellite
constellations is no problem. But once we get into an error rate
in the range of 10 to 20 percent, things start to get
really critical. Then these constellations
can become a problem within themselves and
between each other. And that can lead a cascade
effect where more and more space debris
is created. The Wachtberg radar
facility near Bonn is among the leading lights in
space surveillance. The TIRA radar has a
limited range of sight. It has to be told approximately
where an object is in the sky in order to conduct
precise measurements. The TIRA facility is
immense compared to the German Experimental Space
Surveillance and Tracking Radar — or
GESTRA — a new electronically
controlled radar system that observes the near-Earth zone
of space within milliseconds. Based on semiconductor
technology, the radar will be the
first in Germany to track active satellites
and space debris 24-7 — while also creating
an orbit data catalog that helps to
prevent collisions. Gerald Braun is in
charge of Germany’s Space Situational
Awareness Centre, which will work together with
GESTRA on data collection. He’s seriously
concerned about the satellite constellations
currently being assembled. There could be the problem that
the electric drive systems in the OneWeb satellites do not allow
high Delta-Vs or speed increases. The plan is to deploy the
fleets at an orbit of around 500
kilometers and then slowly boost them to
1,200 kilometers. through the most
contaminated belt — and then bring them back down
at the end of their lifetime. It’s a problem similar to
sending a family of snails across a major road
during rush-hour. There is a major
risk of collision, not least because the electric
propulsion systems do not give the satellites much scope
for evasive action. The data from the TIRA radar
system and from GESTRA are collated at Germany’s Space
Situational Awareness Center in Uedem near the
Dutch border. The German Armed forces and
the German Aerospace Center work together
at the NATO Communications and Information
Agency Unit there. Radar systems can only
track the near-Earth zone, and not geostationary
orbit. So, the center also
uses telescopes to surveil satellites
that are higher up. And there are already concerns
on the ground over the first satellites launched by
SpaceX’s Starlink constellation. What we saw from the
launch of the first 60 Starlink satellites is that the
brightness is relatively high. And that can lead to interference to
observations in near-Earth orbit. That’s the problem
feared by astronomers — that a growing population of tens
of thousands of mini-satellites in the low- and medium-Earth
orbit will reflect the sun’s rays
onto Earth. And in those areas
of observation, telescope coverage
will be compromised. Not surprisingly, some
of the traffic in the low-Earth orbit is
from military sources. The relatively close range
of 500 to 800 kilometers is a convenient one for gathering
meteorological and geological data — and for
spying. Nowhere else in Germany do
the armed forces and the civilian German Aerospace Center
work so closely together. Here we can see the
OneWeb constellation — with six satellites launched
to date, all on one orbit. This is the Starlink
constellation with 10 times the number
of satellites, spread across different
orbital planes. And this constellation
is likewise set to grow significantly
in the future. The large
number of electrically-powered
satellites being introduced into critical
orbit-heights will definitely pose
questions. In the final phase of these
satellites’ deployment this will also present bigger
challenges for global surveillance systems than is the case with the
current population in orbit. So, we have to prepare
accordingly and continue to expand
our capabilities. The importance of protecting
critical infrastructure such as weather-, GPS- and observation satellites
was highlighted in March 2019. The Indian military shot
down one of the country’s weather satellites in
order to demonstrate its strategic space
capabilities. The satellite broke up in to 6 and
a half thousand pieces of debris, which then spread around
the globe at a speed of 35 thousand
kilometers per hour. The interesting thing in
this area is not so much the mass of debris parts that stay
on the original orbit as the parts moved upwards
by kinetic energy, which will of course pose a
threat to other satellites. China has also demonstrated
its ability to destroy critical infrastructure
in low-Earth orbit. Dongtan in South Korea is
just a two-hour car drive from the border
to North Korea. Everyone here is aware of the threat
from the North’s missile system. And it’s here that OneWeb
is working with Intellian — South Korean specialists in
maritime satellite communications. Intellian is making the satellite
antennae for the ground stations and user terminals that can pick
up and relay the signals from the satellite constellation
at any point on Earth. The Koreans were
chosen due to their experience in maritime
communications, where the transmitter and
receiver are both moving. The idea is to adapt
that technology for Internet access in
self-driving cars. Permanent connectivity will
become increasingly important. Steve Cha and Kevin Eom are the
visionary minds behind Intellian. The maritime Geo is
still challenging, but we have a
solution now. Geo is fixed, but the
vessel is moving. So that means the
antenna should move and also maintain
tracking the satellite. Thatś the key algorithm we
are developing and using now. But Leo is additionally ?
the satellite is moving. So that means we have two motions,
either by ship or by satellite. Even in the worst cases we
have to accurately track the Leo and then we can
maintain the connection. So that could be our
challenge in the near future so we
trying to overcome. Rotating parabolic
antennae are at the cutting edge of
current technology. But a few years from
now, there might well be new antennae available based
on semi-conductor technology. This is completely different
from a parabolic antenna, but this is a real
future antenna. But this one is not
a mechanical body. We can put this here
and there is some electronic circuit
inside it to steer the beam and track the
satellite itself. So, this kind of antenna doesnt
need the mechanical motion and is able to very
accurately track the satellite and
is also very small. Whether by sea,
land or the air — the idea is to ensure easy
connectivity for people using all means of
transportation, in addition to those
who are stationary. This facility near Seoul
tests radio communications with objects in the
Earth’s orbit. A group of engineers headed
by physicist Nav Bains spent several months focusing
on one specific task — proving beyond
doubt that an Internet connection
can be established on 90 days in a row via a
satellite constellation. Their test results would determine
whether OneWeb’s rights to transmit at the frequency
spectrum approved by the International Telecommunications
Union would be confirmed. It’s a milestone the team
eventually reached in 2019. Our satellites were launched
in February this year and we want to show
proof-of-concept that it works. So, we want to be able to send
signals up to the satellites, back down again, and prove
that we can send traffic at very high speed and therefore
realize some of these services, high speed broadband services,
that we want to offer the world. So, this is a perfect
testing ground, we’ve got regulatory clearance here
to do transmissions and receptions. Could a system initially
comprising just six satellites in orbit stream internet
video content from Germany? Nav Baines and his
team were also eager to see how the
experiment pans out. What we will be doing is weŕe
going to the ZDF channel and getting content
from there over to our KA Modems onto the KA Terminals
themselves up to the satellite, back down again and then
all the acknowledgments coming back across the internet,
so that we can keep on streaming. We’ve just got three
more minutes and then the satellites will
be coming over. Each satellite flyby takes
about three minutes. And then the next one, the
next one, next one and so on. OK, ten
seconds? We’re now live streaming
video from the ZDF channel — it worked
briefly. The quality of the
signal wasnt good enough and so it
lost the connection. But we can retry and weŕe
still in testing mode. We’re testing the
satellites out, optimizing the system to get
better and better performance, better latency and improved
quality of video over satellites. OK, thanks everybody
— good job. But providing sufficient
bandwidth for streaming videos in full HD will require
the launch and deployment of far
more satellites — and more ground
stations. Over in the United
States, OneWeb has a second ground station not
far from Washington, DC. The constellation’s satellites
can be controlled from here and from Head
Quarters in London. Daria Carini is responsible
for coordinating the constellation’s
flight maneuvers. She and colleague Nijah Richie
control individual satellites. Here, the two experts
are conducting extensive tests connected to
automatic control routines. It’s a system I want to trust,
but at the same time as a human, I want to make sure Im checking
all of my checks and balances, making sure that
everything is OK with the satellite before we
proceed to the next step. Because, again, this
isnt a simulation. We have to take our
time and we have to be as humanly
perfect as possible. How many controllers will
be required to pilot a mega-constellation of
several hundred satellites? This is where artificial
intelligence will come in to assist the
human operators. I believe we’re
going to have one controller for about
20 or 30 satellites, may be
even more. Weŕe trying to
automate our system, so that one person
can handle as many satellites as are needed
within our crews. Because, like you said, weŕe not
going to have a one-to-one ratio, and we need to learn to
automate our system, so that when we see
is issues on board, if our pilots cant
do it manually, then automatically our system
should be able to handle it. It's kind of a walk-before-you-run
type of philosophy. So instead of having so many
satellites up at first, we deployed six and then we could
spend a significant amount of time kind of getting to know them,
like a new friend basically. Just deciding this
satellite is capable of this and it’s not
capable of this and I kind of adapt to the
constellation as it grows too, because of our ability to
understand the vehicles. Because for months since launch,
for about six months now we have gotten a good idea of the
types of tools that we’ll need in order to sustain a
mega-constellation. And in addition to the
technical challenges, there are also no end of
regulatory obstacles to overcome. Ruth Prichard-Kelly and her
team are trying to convince more than 200 different
countries and territories to grant OneWeb permission
to provide services. Every person in
the world wants access to information
and entertainment. And they may define that differently
and their country may be concerned about what
access they have, but even a country like North
Korea wants their people to have access to certain
kinds of information. So, every country in the world wants
their people to be connected. They may want to control the
way they are connected, they may have concerns about
data protection and security, but they want their
people connected. And so even North Korea, even
Cuba, even India, China, Russia, theyŕe all interested
in connectivity. Connectivity is the
key to the future. Internet access in North
Korea, China and Russia is regulated differently
than in Germany. What surprised the company was
how more democratic nations also tend to demand an
“emergency off-switch” before giving
approval to Internet access via a satellite
constellation. You know what, even the United
States asked for an off-switch. Every country wants a little control
over the traffic in its country. And one of the things
they say basically, if you cause
interference, usually, you’ll need
to be turned off. And you say of course,
and the idea is, I’m never going to
cause interference. And we’re going back
to the coordination with the other
satellite systems. I don’t want to turn off,
so I’m going to make darn sure that I’m not
interfering into anything. OneWeb and its rival Google-Space
X are currently neck and neck in this new space race, with Amazon
lagging some distance behind. Whether high-speed internet
from low-Earth orbit will actually be commercially
available by the end of 2021 is
still hard to say. South Korea has the fastest
mobile Internet on the planet. And practically everyone here
has highspeed connectivity via terrestrial or
mobile networks. And it’s here that Nav Baines
and his colleagues are working toward a future
where every person on Earth could have fast Internet
via satellite — provided their
governments allow it.
