You are viewing a single comment's thread from:
RE: The Most Down to Earth Crypto Project Out There
I'm pretty sure there's good reasons google and facebook are experimenting with drones and balloons to extend their networks instead of satellites. A cube sat network is not something a small crypto company can do yet.
Power is probably the main issue. Broadcasting a useful signal requires a lot of power. This means big solar panels and a big antenna. So right away the design just turns into a regular satellite which costs millions of dollars to design and launch.
Reliability is the other issue. Signal interference from weather, other signals or even jamming is always an issue over a wireless network. Wired systems are much more reliable.
I like the grandiose thinking though. Sometimes it pays to aim high.
All these issues are being worked on. When GOOGLE and FACEBOOK start launching rockets let me know... until then good luck with their hot air balloons. You are talking about antennas... Radio signals are not the same as light signals. LIFI is the way to go. Radio signals are the SNAIL MAIL of connectivity and require great deals of power.
Do you think that a light signal is less prone to interference and lower power consumption than radio signals?
"Atmospheric and fog attenuation, which are exponential in nature, limit practical range of FSO (free space optical communication) devices to several kilometres." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free-space_optical_communication
If there is such thing as a long range low power laser let me know. I have not heard of one. At least not one that works over more than 10 or 20 feet.
As far as rockets go. That's the easy part. The technology is there already.
LiFi sounds like it will be very useful for home wifi networks. But certainly not space based telecommunications.