Canada desperately needs a national strategic internet constellation.

Edit to fix link.

    • @[email protected]
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      68 hours ago

      Similar problems with fibre to all of Australia. It’s just not feasible for small remote communities.

      • @buddascrayon
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        37 hours ago

        Microwave towers? They don’t bridge enormous distances but can bypass areas that it would be inadvisable to lay cable

        • @[email protected]OP
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          27 hours ago

          Terrestrial solutions for remote areas typically have excessive build out and maintenance costs.

          Engineers will do a tradeoff and select the most suitable solution given the criteria. It’s very easy to underestimate costs, particularly over the entire lifetime of the system.

    • @[email protected]
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      28 hours ago

      There are solutions for the far arctic that aren’t high density mesh networks polluting low earth orbit.

      • @[email protected]OP
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        18 hours ago

        Yes there are such solutions, but for remote regions without infrastructure and with high build out and operating/maintenance costs for terrestrial technology, I suspect that the most cost effective solution that we can achieve in a timely fashion is probably LEO, like Lightspeed or Starlink. Particularly since Canada has half a century of experience building satellite systems.

        Managing LEO debris and congestion is not an insurmountable challenge.

      • @[email protected]OP
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        8 hours ago

        Buddy, I’m an aero eng. There are lots of ways to get satellites in polar orbits.

        Why didn’t you look at the actual Lightspeed site from Telesat? Why would you pick a random paper? The Telesat site explains how they get coverage in polar regions.

        https://www.telesat.com/leo-satellites/

        • @[email protected]
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          18 hours ago

          There are lots of ways to get satellites in polar orbits.

          Of course there are, but the customers are mostly not at the poles, so any times the satellites spend at the poles is wasted.

          • @[email protected]OP
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            27 hours ago

            I suggest you look up the solution that Telesat will use. I’m not involved in that project, but a quick glance shows me that the engineers involved have probably done their homework and have considered the customer base and their needs, including the need to service all regions of the country.