Have you ever experienced a vexing internet buffer while watching your favourite Netflix sitcom? We must have at least once. Imagine being able to access the internet at speeds in the range of gigabytes per second while sitting under a countryside tree without any interruption. This is about to happen pretty soon. SpaceX, an aerospace company founded by Elon Musk which specializes in manufacturing and launching some of the world’s most advanced rockets and spacecraft, has taken up Starlink, an ambitious project to build a broadband network with a bunch of satellites orbiting around the globe.
您是否曾经在观看自己喜欢的Netflix情景喜剧时经历过令人烦恼的互联网缓冲? 我们必须至少有一次。 想象一下,坐在一棵乡间树下,能够以每秒千兆字节的速度访问互联网而不会受到任何干扰。 这将很快发生。 由埃隆·马斯克(Elon Musk)创立的一家航空航天公司SpaceX,专门制造和发射一些世界上最先进的火箭和航天器,该公司已承接了雄心勃勃的Starlink项目,该项目旨在建立宽带网络,并在全球范围内运行一堆卫星。
什么是Starlink? (What is Starlink?)
Starlink may sound like a word from our old comic books, but it’s actually Elon Musk’s project of launching 12,000 satellites(as of now) and eventually 30,000 in the low earth orbit (LEO). The project aims to provide high-speed internet in rural areas of America within this year and around the globe within 2021.
Starlink听起来像我们的旧漫画书中的一个字,但实际上是Elon Musk的计划,计划发射12,000颗卫星(截至目前),最后发射30,000颗在低地球轨道(LEO)。 该项目旨在在今年内和2021年在全球范围内为美国农村地区提供高速互联网。
Starlink internet proposal happened back in January 2015 in which Musk stated that SpaceX had filed the documents to place about 4,000 satellites in LEO. When I was writing this, around 538 Starlink satellites are constellating in low altitude orbit including the 58 satellites that were launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on June 3rd.
Starlink互联网提案发生在2015年1月,当时马斯克表示,SpaceX已提交文件将LEO放置了大约4,000颗卫星。 在我撰写本文时,大约有538颗Starlink卫星正在低空轨道上飞行,其中包括6月3日从佛罗里达卡纳维拉尔角发射的58颗卫星。
传统互联网如何运作? (How traditional Internet works?)
Before getting to know how Starlink works, let’s have a look at how traditional Internet Services work. Consider sending a photo via an e-mail to a friend. It needs to undergo a certain process to reach the destination. At first, the photo is disintegrated into pieces known as data packets, which is nothing but 0s and 1s(binary). This data travels in the form of light through a “fibre-optic cable” to the IP address of the destination e-mail. In the same way, while accessing a website, when we enter the website’s link in search engine, it gets converted into the IP address of a server. This server might be several million kilometres away. After fetching the data from the server, it would reach us backtracking the IP address of our laptop or mobile. This time taken for the data to travel between our system and the server is called latency.
在了解Starlink的工作方式之前,让我们看一下传统Internet服务的工作方式。 考虑通过电子邮件将照片发送给朋友。 它需要经过一定的过程才能到达目的地。 首先,将照片分解为称为数据包的片段,这些片段不过是0和1s(二进制)。 该数据以光的形式通过“光纤电缆”传输到目标电子邮件的IP地址。 同样,在访问网站时,当我们在搜索引擎中输入网站的链接时,该链接将转换为服务器的IP地址。 该服务器可能在数百万公里之外。 从服务器获取数据后,它将到达我们回溯我们笔记本电脑或移动设备的IP地址的位置。 数据在我们的系统和服务器之间传输所需的时间称为延迟。
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SpaceX says the latency of Starlink internet would be 15milliseconds which is 50% faster than fibre-optic cables.
SpaceX表示, Starlink互联网的延迟时间为15毫秒 ,比光纤电缆快50%。
Starlink的外观如何? (How does Starlink look?)
Imagine a constellation of satellites like dots interconnected with lines around the globe and this is how Starlink would look like at the end. It has some consequences which we’ll discuss in the forthcoming paragraphs. According to Sky & Telescope magazine, each satellite is roughly the size of a table and weighs around 500 lbs. (227 kg).
想象一下这样的卫星群,例如点与全球范围内的线相互连接,这就是Starlink最终的外观。 它会带来一些后果,我们将在接下来的段落中进行讨论。 据“ 天空与望远镜”杂志报道,每颗卫星的大小大约是一张桌子,重约500磅 。 (227公斤)。
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Starlink如何运作? (How Starlink works?)
Starlink satellites communicate among themselves using Lasers. Unlike fibre-optics, Starlink involves beaming of data in a vacuum of space. Interestingly, the speed of light is 47% higher in vacuum compared to fibre-optics. There are already some internet satellites that orbit around a height of 35,780 km from a particular spot on the earth, and the latency of this network is about half a second(500ms). In the case of Starlink, the satellites will be orbiting the earth at a height of around 550 km, which makes the dream of providing the fastest ever internet possible.
Starlink卫星之间使用激光进行通信。 与光纤不同,Starlink涉及在真空空间中传输数据。 有趣的是,与光纤相比,真空中的光速高47%。 已经有一些互联网卫星围绕地球上的某个特定点绕35,780公里的高度运行,该网络的延迟时间约为半秒( 500毫秒 )。 就Starlink而言,卫星将绕着550 km的高度绕地球运行,这使梦想成为可能,从而有可能提供最快的互联网。
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SpaceX partnered with US Air Force for initial testing process and the test happened in 2018 using only two satellites and the out-turn was around 610mbps. According to Elon Musk, at least 400 such satellites are needed for providing minimal internet coverage and 800 will be required for moderate coverage. Musk has also said that US and Canada might able to access Starlink internet by the end of 2020 and rest of the world by sometime in 2021.
SpaceX与美国空军合作进行了初始测试流程,该测试于2018年仅使用两颗卫星进行,其输出约为610mbps 。 根据埃隆·马斯克(Elon Musk)的说法,至少需要400颗这样的卫星才能提供最小的Internet覆盖,而中等覆盖则需要800颗。 马斯克还表示,美国和加拿大可能会在2020年底之前访问Starlink互联网,并在2021年某个时候访问世界其他地区。
后果与解决方案 (Consequences and Solutions)
One of the greatest struggles for SpaceX is concealing the satellites from the ground-based telescope of professional astronomers. For that, several measures including software fixes that dim satellites, darkening treatment to the surfaces that are vastly exposed to sunlight, equipping the satellites with sun visors which reduces brightness from reflection, etc., have been taken. They are also testing the satellites with knife-edge maneuver which helps them to roll and align in parallel plane to the sun, ultimately reflecting less sunlight.
SpaceX的最大挑战之一是将卫星从专业天文学家的地面望远镜中隐藏起来。 为此,已经采取了多种措施,包括使卫星变暗的软件修复,对大量暴露于日光下的表面进行暗化处理,为卫星配备遮阳板以降低反射的亮度等。 他们还在用刀刃操纵技术测试卫星,这有助于它们在与太阳平行的平面上滚动和对准,最终反射更少的阳光。
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为什么Starlink很重要? (Why is Starlink important?)
We know how much we had to spend for a gigabyte of data 4 years ago. But now, due to the Internet revolution brought by Jio in India, the internet has become an imperative thing in our lives. Yet, there are still some places around the globe without any access to the internet, which hinders the development of people living in those areas. This is because most of the private firms are choosing urban cities to build their network. But Starlink has taken this frame of reference into account and aims to outstretch its high-speed internet to every corner of the globe without any exceptions.
我们知道4年前需要为千兆字节的数据花费多少。 但是现在,由于Jio在印度带来的互联网革命,互联网已成为我们生活中的当务之急。 但是,全球仍有一些地方无法访问互联网,这阻碍了居住在这些地区的人们的发展。 这是因为大多数私营公司都选择城市来建立他们的网络。 但Starlink已考虑到这一参考框架,旨在将其高速互联网扩展到全球的每个角落。
Starlink will bring a huge impact on the people living in rural areas who don’t have access to the internet. It is even possible to access Starlink internet during air travel.
Starlink将为生活在无法上网的农村地区的人们带来巨大的影响。 乘飞机旅行时甚至可以访问Starlink互联网。
According to Business Insider India, although the cost of this project is around $10billion, the company would make a revenue of $30billion every year from Starlink. Elon has said this will be used to fund his dream project of colonizing the red planet which would cost him a trillion dollars.
据印度《商业内幕》报道,尽管该项目的成本约为100亿美元,但该公司每年将从Starlink获得300亿美元的收入。 伊隆说过,这将用于资助他梦想的殖民红色星球的项目,这将花费他一万亿美元 。
As we all know Musk is a man of his words, we can expect to experience the Starlink internet by the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022.
众所周知,马斯克(Musk)是有道理的人,我们可以期望在2021年底或2022年初体验Starlink互联网。
However, SpaceX isn’t the only company currently working on such high-speed internet projects. Companies such as OneWeb, Telesat and Amazon’s Project Kuiper are also competing with Starlink but they are way behind in the race.
但是,SpaceX不是当前从事此类高速Internet项目的唯一公司。 OneWeb , Telesat和亚马逊的Project Kuiper等公司也与Starlink竞争,但在竞争中处于落后地位。
翻译自: https://medium.com/@bhuvanbharath03/starlink-the-next-generation-internet-47ff931e0973