OneWeb wants to blanket the planet in high-speed satellite broadband

OneWeb is talking a big game in satellite-delivered internet access—almost the size of this planet, to be more precise. OneWeb plans to surpass existing satellite-broadband firms by flying below them and in vastly larger numbers. Instead of rocketing a few large satellites all the way to geostationary Earth orbit (GEO)—22,236 miles up, at which point the satellite’s orbital period keeps it locked above one point on the equator—the company will launch hundreds of satellites in much lower orbits. Placing that constellation, 650 satellites at first and eventually 1,980, only 745 miles up could solve two problems. One, their overlapping orbits allow for worldwide coverage, while geostationary satellites start to fall below the horizon at the most northern and southern latitudes. The second advantage of OneWeb’s approach is that its lower orbit zaps out most of the painful latency inflicted by the 44,000 miles and change that data must take going to and from a geostationary satellite. In a July test, OneWeb reported download speeds of 400-Mbps to a Seoul location as it automatically switched from satellite to satellite—with latency under 40 milliseconds, versus 600 milliseconds and up for GEO satellite. OneWeb is pitching its constellation-to-be as a worldwide solution for 5G backhaul, connecting 5G networks in less-dense markets with those elsewhere.