GEO, MEO or LEO?

Which are the most affordable and viable space architectures to extend connectivity to uncovered and under-served regions?

Gabriella Bernardi

Ships, Smart Cities, but also robotics, drones, autonomous vehicles, and the industrial Internet. In our society, the availability of an internet connection looks more and more like a primary need, but there are many places of our planet without a reasonable and reliable access to the internet.

It is the so-called “digital divide”, which can hamper the development of entire nations.

Wiring up remote or under-populated regions can be difficult and economically unviable, so several private companies are developing the idea of deploying a large number of satellites instead, the so-called “mega-constellations,” able to grant more affordable radio connections.

SpaceX’s Starlink, OneWeb, or Project Kuiper are just a few examples, and some of them have already entered in the commercial arena, but which is the best way to realize them?

In a recent article published in the International Journal of Satellite Communications and Networking, Inigo del Portillo,Sydney I. Dolan,Bruce G…