Satellite internet constellation

A satellite internet constellation is a group of artificial satellites working together to provide satellite internet service. These satellites are placed in low Earth orbit, which is closer to our planet than other types of orbits. This makes the internet they provide faster and with less delay, called low-latency.

These constellations are very large, sometimes called megaconstellations. They are special because they can bring fast, broadband internet to places that don't have it yet. As of 2020, many rural areas around the world still didn't have internet because laying down underground cables or building network towers was too expensive or difficult.

Satellite internet constellations offer a cheaper way to expand internet access. By using satellites in low Earth orbit, they can cover wide areas without needing as much ground infrastructure. This helps connect people in remote villages, mountains, and other hard-to-reach places to the online world.

History

For many years, satellite internet services used satellites in a special path called geostationary orbit. These services had slow speeds, long delays, and were very expensive, so not many people used them.

In the 1990s, new ideas for satellite internet appeared using satellites in lower orbits. Projects like Celestri and Teledesic were started but later stopped after some other satellite projects failed.

In the 2010s, people became more interested again because it became cheaper to send things into space and more people wanted fast internet. Big companies like OneWeb, SpaceX with Starlink, Amazon, and others started planning lots of new satellites. By 2018, over 18,000 new satellites were planned to be launched between 2019 and 2025. This is more than ten times the number of satellites already in space at that time. Even more plans were made by 2020.

In early 2021, big European satellite companies told the European Commission they would help develop new satellite internet if the government helped too. In March 2025, SES partnered with Lynk Global to connect their satellites better.

In 2018, Russia started the Sfera program with 162 satellites to provide internet, message relay, video broadcast, and remote sensing services. In October 2022, they launched a test satellite called Skif-D.

Design

Different satellite systems can have many satellites, different paths they follow around Earth, and different ways they talk to each other. Some systems have special links between satellites, while others do not. Scientists use math and computer programs to guess how much information these systems can send. One hard part is that satellites move very fast, so they only stay above one spot for about 10 minutes before moving on.

See also: Satellite constellation § Design

Potential

For very far distances, like over 3,000 kilometers, satellite internet can give faster connections than cables on the ground. Even without special links between satellites, these new networks might be able to work as well as today's internet services in many places.

Issues and criticism

See also: Starlink § Impact on astronomy, and Starlink § Increased risk of satellite collision

Some people worry that more satellites could cause problems. They are concerned about extra light in the sky affecting stargazing, more chances of satellites crashing, and not cleaning up old satellites that stay in space.

Scientists studying the sky have found that many pictures taken at certain times of night are affected by passing satellites. This is especially true during twilight, when the sky is just getting dark. More research is needed to understand how these changes will affect different places and communities.

Mitigation in astronomy

A report in 2020 suggested ways to reduce the harm satellites might cause to stargazing. In 2022, a group of experts announced a center to help protect the night sky from too many satellites. Another group is keeping track of progress in this area.

Space governance

Guidelines from the United Nations and a safety standard encourage groups to:

• Limit space junk during normal work
• Try to avoid satellites breaking apart
• Get rid of satellites after their job is done
• Stop satellites from crashing into each other

Some scientists think we need new rules to help keep space clean and safe, treating it like part of our environment that needs protection, just like the oceans. As of 2022, there are no strong international rules to guide how we use space, and no plan to clean up the old satellites already floating there.

Federation of Cross-Orbit Satellite Networks

There are many companies that launch satellites. Like the internet, which connects many smaller networks, these satellite networks can also work together.

Constellations

Operational

Megaconstellations

• Amazon Leo — Amazon’s group of satellites will have 3,236 satellites in space. Service started in 2025.
• G60/Qianfan — This is a big project from China to put up 14,000 satellites by 2030. The first set of 1,296 satellites will help cover the world, with 648 launching by the end of 2025. The first launch happened on August 6, 2024, and more satellites were sent up on October 15, 2024.
• Guowang/SatNet — This is another big Chinese project that wants to have over 13,000 satellites in space when it's finished.
• Starlink — This is part of SpaceX and gives fast internet and some phone services. It started regular service in 2021.

Smaller constellations

• BlueBird — This is a phone service from AST SpaceMobile, working with AT&T and Verizon.
• China State Owned Constellation (Chinasat) — This is a working satellite internet group owned by the government of China.
• Globalstar — This has 24 satellites close to Earth to give phone and slow internet service to most of the world. The new set of satellites finished launching on February 6, 2013.
• Iridium — This has 66 satellites that work together to give phone and slow internet service everywhere on Earth. A new set of these satellites finished in 2019.
• Lynk Global — This wants to give service directly to regular mobile phones.
• O3b mPOWER — This gives service to most of the world and started in 2024. The satellites were built by Boeing.
• OneWeb constellation — This joined with Eutelsat in 2023, and finished its 648 satellites by late 2024.
• Orbcomm — This has 29 satellites to help track things and send messages around the world.
• Viasat, Inc. — This gives fast internet service for stationary, moving on the ground, and airplane users.

Planned

• Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite (IRIS²) — The European Union plans to launch this group of satellites by 2027.
• Korean Positioning System (KPS) — This will have eight satellites total, with the first one launching in 2027.
• Lightspeed — A fast internet group by Telesat, starting in 2026.
• Rassvet — Made by Russian company Bureau 1440, this will give fast internet service.
• Sfera — A Russian project that may have up to 640 satellites. A test launch happened on October 23, 2022.
• TeraWave — A Blue Origin project with 5,280 satellites close to Earth and 128 satellites a bit farther away, starting in 2027.
• UASAT — The first launch is set for October 2026, with plans for 120 satellites by 2027.
• Honghu-3 — A joint project between Hong Qing Tech and LandSpace that wants to have 10,000 satellites close to Earth.

Defunct

• Teledesic — This was an old idea from the 1990s to give fast internet from space, but it never happened.