From clicking on the links in this story you can find the image and its caption:
Thank you for saying that, but the fact remains that photos need captions. Explanation that "all one needs to do is click links in the article" does not nullify or eliminate the need for captions.
AppleInsider...
Please put captions under photos where it is not 100% obvious what the content of the photo depicts. If in doubt, add a caption. For example, if you show the front of a Macintosh 128K, even then it might be worth putting a caption under it because the machine could be a 128K or 512K machine, and maybe there's a reason why we should know the difference.
I hope other countries are planned. Australia in particular has vast areas without cellular coverage.
They probably are, but there may be some regulatory hurdles to deal with and possibly satellite positioning issues, since I don’t know if Globalstar’s satellites are geostationary?
I hope other countries are planned. Australia in particular has vast areas without cellular coverage.
I don’t know if Globalstar’s satellites are geostationary?
From googling:
The Globalstar system [GLO96, GAF94, MAZ93, ROU93] has 48 low earth orbit satellites in eight planes. The constellation is designed for 100% single satellite coverage between ±70° latitude, and 100% dual or higher satellite coverage between 25° to 50° latitudes.
Interpreting that into plain English:
If you are somewhere between 70 degrees North and 70 degrees south, you will get a 100% chance of seeing a satellite. but you will get better coverage between 25 degrees and 50 degrees (either north or south).
No doubt Globalstar did their orbits this way in order to focus their services on the following major market areas:
The USA (excluding northern Alaska)
Continental Europe (excluding parts of Scandinavia)
Japan
China
Brazil
Some of the regions that Globalstar probably cannot reach are: Iceland, northern Alaska, northern Canada, northern Scandinavia, Antarctica.
Elon Musk's Starlink has similar latitude limitations, but in 2022 Musk started launching some Starlink satellites into polar orbits, and he expects regular service in the far north to become a reality in 2023. Globalstar could potentially do the same thing and launch some satellites into polar orbit as well.
Here's a great Youtube video from a non-SpaceX expert explaining how Starlink is likely going to work in the future. It gives lots of insight into how sun-synchronous orbits work, and how space-based communications systems could route data with the lowest latency.
Comments
AppleInsider...
Please put captions under photos where it is not 100% obvious what the content of the photo depicts. If in doubt, add a caption. For example, if you show the front of a Macintosh 128K, even then it might be worth putting a caption under it because the machine could be a 128K or 512K machine, and maybe there's a reason why we should know the difference.
SPECIFICS are our friends.
Interpreting that into plain English:
No doubt Globalstar did their orbits this way in order to focus their services on the following major market areas:
- The USA (excluding northern Alaska)
- Continental Europe (excluding parts of Scandinavia)
- Japan
- China
- Brazil
Some of the regions that Globalstar probably cannot reach are: Iceland, northern Alaska, northern Canada, northern Scandinavia, Antarctica.Elon Musk's Starlink has similar latitude limitations, but in 2022 Musk started launching some Starlink satellites into polar orbits, and he expects regular service in the far north to become a reality in 2023. Globalstar could potentially do the same thing and launch some satellites into polar orbit as well.
Here's a great Youtube video from a non-SpaceX expert explaining how Starlink is likely going to work in the future. It gives lots of insight into how sun-synchronous orbits work, and how space-based communications systems could route data with the lowest latency.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m05abdGSOxY <--