日益擁擠的近地軌道空間迎來(lái)了一位新朋友。2月9日,,加拿大衛(wèi)星運(yùn)營(yíng)商Telesat宣布,,其計(jì)劃于2023年底前發(fā)射近300顆低軌道衛(wèi)星,以在全球范圍內(nèi)提供高速互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù),。
但Telesat表示,,該公司尚未“最終敲定”由泰雷茲阿萊尼亞太空公司制造衛(wèi)星的全部融資。由于沒(méi)能籌措足夠的資金以建設(shè)大型衛(wèi)星網(wǎng)絡(luò),,先前的努力也被迫叫停,,其中,軟銀集團(tuán)旗下的OneWeb于去年申請(qǐng)破產(chǎn)(不過(guò)該公司后來(lái)獲得了新融資),。
“全面建設(shè)的鋪開(kāi)和最終的衛(wèi)星部署時(shí)間表,,取決于項(xiàng)目融資的進(jìn)展?!盩elesat在一份聲明中表示,。
低軌道衛(wèi)星通常位于地球上空幾百到1000英里左右的位置。無(wú)論是否成功,,Telesat公司的努力標(biāo)志著低軌道衛(wèi)星互聯(lián)網(wǎng)這一領(lǐng)域迎來(lái)了第四位入局者,。在此之前,埃隆?馬斯克SpaceX公司的星鏈服務(wù)已經(jīng)在北美部分地區(qū)以每月100美元的價(jià)格提供太空聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù),。剛走出破產(chǎn)困境的OneWeb現(xiàn)在由英國(guó)政府和其他投資者所有,,也已經(jīng)發(fā)射了100多顆衛(wèi)星,并計(jì)劃在2022年底前發(fā)射近650顆衛(wèi)星,。杰夫?貝佐的柯伊伯項(xiàng)目官宣了計(jì)劃,,但尚未開(kāi)始發(fā)射衛(wèi)星。這些新的嘗試也與傳統(tǒng)衛(wèi)星服務(wù)構(gòu)成了新的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)——傳統(tǒng)衛(wèi)星位于更高的軌道,,如在世界某些地區(qū)提供互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)的Viasat,,價(jià)格相當(dāng)昂貴。
與競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手不同,,Telesat并不打算直接向普通家庭消費(fèi)者提供“光速”服務(wù),。該公司表示,其受眾定位是固定和移動(dòng)網(wǎng)絡(luò)運(yùn)營(yíng)商,、航空和海事用戶,、企業(yè)客戶和政府部門(mén)。個(gè)人消費(fèi)者需要向這些運(yùn)營(yíng)商購(gòu)買(mǎi)服務(wù),。
四家衛(wèi)星互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)公司都在想辦法,,避免重蹈比爾?蓋茨支持的Teledesic公司以及銥衛(wèi)星和環(huán)球之星的覆轍。上世紀(jì)90年代,,這些公司制定了一系列宏大計(jì)劃,,但隨著成本飆升、投資資金池枯竭,,它們最終或解散,,或申請(qǐng)破產(chǎn)。雖然星鏈已經(jīng)開(kāi)始提供實(shí)際性的服務(wù),,但2月9日,,埃隆?馬斯克在推特上表達(dá)了衛(wèi)星互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)“悲催的歷史”帶來(lái)的擔(dān)憂。
“SpaceX需要一年左右的時(shí)間跨過(guò)負(fù)現(xiàn)金流的鴻溝,,才能讓星鏈在財(cái)務(wù)上生存下來(lái),。”馬斯克寫(xiě)道,,“歷史上,,每一家衛(wèi)星互聯(lián)網(wǎng)公司最終都走向了破產(chǎn)。我們希望,,SpaceX可以成為第一個(gè)順利活下去的公司,。”(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))
編譯:楊二一
加拿大衛(wèi)星運(yùn)營(yíng)商Telesat計(jì)劃發(fā)射近300顆衛(wèi)星,,用于其最新的“光速”衛(wèi)星互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù),。(Telesat供圖)
日益擁擠的近地軌道空間迎來(lái)了一位新朋友。2月9日,,加拿大衛(wèi)星運(yùn)營(yíng)商Telesat宣布,,其計(jì)劃于2023年底前發(fā)射近300顆低軌道衛(wèi)星,以在全球范圍內(nèi)提供高速互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù),。
但Telesat表示,,該公司尚未“最終敲定”由泰雷茲阿萊尼亞太空公司制造衛(wèi)星的全部融資。由于沒(méi)能籌措足夠的資金以建設(shè)大型衛(wèi)星網(wǎng)絡(luò),,先前的努力也被迫叫停,,其中,軟銀集團(tuán)旗下的OneWeb于去年申請(qǐng)破產(chǎn)(不過(guò)該公司后來(lái)獲得了新融資),。
“全面建設(shè)的鋪開(kāi)和最終的衛(wèi)星部署時(shí)間表,,取決于項(xiàng)目融資的進(jìn)展?!盩elesat在一份聲明中表示,。
低軌道衛(wèi)星通常位于地球上空幾百到1000英里左右的位置。無(wú)論是否成功,,Telesat公司的努力標(biāo)志著低軌道衛(wèi)星互聯(lián)網(wǎng)這一領(lǐng)域迎來(lái)了第四位入局者,。在此之前,,埃隆?馬斯克SpaceX公司的星鏈服務(wù)已經(jīng)在北美部分地區(qū)以每月100美元的價(jià)格提供太空聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)。剛走出破產(chǎn)困境的OneWeb現(xiàn)在由英國(guó)政府和其他投資者所有,,也已經(jīng)發(fā)射了100多顆衛(wèi)星,,并計(jì)劃在2022年底前發(fā)射近650顆衛(wèi)星。杰夫?貝佐的柯伊伯項(xiàng)目官宣了計(jì)劃,,但尚未開(kāi)始發(fā)射衛(wèi)星,。這些新的嘗試也與傳統(tǒng)衛(wèi)星服務(wù)構(gòu)成了新的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)——傳統(tǒng)衛(wèi)星位于更高的軌道,如在世界某些地區(qū)提供互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)的Viasat,,價(jià)格相當(dāng)昂貴,。
與競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手不同,Telesat并不打算直接向普通家庭消費(fèi)者提供“光速”服務(wù),。該公司表示,,其受眾定位是固定和移動(dòng)網(wǎng)絡(luò)運(yùn)營(yíng)商、航空和海事用戶,、企業(yè)客戶和政府部門(mén),。個(gè)人消費(fèi)者需要向這些運(yùn)營(yíng)商購(gòu)買(mǎi)服務(wù)。
四家衛(wèi)星互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)公司都在想辦法,,避免重蹈比爾?蓋茨支持的Teledesic公司以及銥衛(wèi)星和環(huán)球之星的覆轍,。上世紀(jì)90年代,這些公司制定了一系列宏大計(jì)劃,,但隨著成本飆升,、投資資金池枯竭,它們最終或解散,,或申請(qǐng)破產(chǎn),。雖然星鏈已經(jīng)開(kāi)始提供實(shí)際性的服務(wù),但2月9日,,埃隆?馬斯克在推特上表達(dá)了衛(wèi)星互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)“悲催的歷史”帶來(lái)的擔(dān)憂,。
“SpaceX需要一年左右的時(shí)間跨過(guò)負(fù)現(xiàn)金流的鴻溝,才能讓星鏈在財(cái)務(wù)上生存下來(lái),?!瘪R斯克寫(xiě)道,“歷史上,,每一家衛(wèi)星互聯(lián)網(wǎng)公司最終都走向了破產(chǎn),。我們希望,SpaceX可以成為第一個(gè)順利活下去的公司,?!保ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng))
編譯:楊二一
Canadian satellite operator Telesat plans to loft almost 300 satellites for its new Lightspeed Internet service from space.
COURTESY OF TELESAT
The increasingly crowded space of low Earth orbit is getting even more crowded. Canadian satellite operator Telesat announced on Tuesday details of its planned constellation of 300 satellites in low orbit to provide high-speed Internet service worldwide by the end of 2023.
But Telesat said it had not yet "finalized" full financing to back its plan with the satellites to be manufactured by Thales Alenia Space. Failure to find enough money to pay for building large satellite networks has stopped prior efforts, including most recently when SoftBank Group's OneWeb filed for bankruptcy last year, though it has since emerged with new backing.
"Commencement of full construction activities and the final constellation deployment schedule are subject to, and conditional upon, the progress of the financing for the program," Telesat said in a statement.
The Canadian effort marks at least the fourth plan currently seeking to offer Internet from low-orbiting satellites, typically a few hundred to 1,000 or so miles above the planet. Elon Musk's SpaceX's Starlink service is already offering Internet from space for $100 per month in parts of North America. OneWeb, out of bankruptcy and now owned by the British government and other investors, has lofted more than 100 satellites with plans to reach almost 650 satellites by the end of 2022. And Jeff Bezo’s Project Kuiper has announced big plans but not yet moved to launch satellites. The efforts also compete with traditional satellite services using higher orbits like Viasat that offer pricey Internet service in some parts of the world.
Unlike some of its rivals, Telesat does not plan to market Lightspeed directly to ordinary consumers at home. Instead, the company said it is targeting fixed and mobile network operators, aeronautical and maritime users, enterprise customers, and governments. Consumers would have to purchase service from one of those operators.
All four new space Internet services are seeking to avoid the fate of earlier efforts like the Bill Gates–backed Teledesic, as well as Iridium and Globalstar, which announced big plans in the 1990s but ended up disbanding or filing for bankruptcy after costs soared and money from investors dried up. And even though Starlink has started offering actual service, Elon Musk on Tuesday tweeted about his fears given the rough history of prior services.
"SpaceX needs to pass through a deep chasm of negative cash flow over the next year or so to make Starlink financially viable," he wrote. "Every new satellite constellation in history has gone bankrupt. We hope to be the first that does not."