[agildehaus]

Once the constellation is built, you can do worldwide routing in orbit, which is actually more efficient latency-wise (at least for international hops) as you're not dealing with political and physical boundaries and light is passing through vacuum not fiber.

[jandrese]

While this is possible, it is very challenging to actually achieve. Your latency numbers go to hell in a hurry if you're bouncing around satellites in orbit (eating a queuing delay on every hop). Iridium did this, but at the end of the day their mobile to mobile latency numbers are similar to Geo satellites.

SpaceX's plan is almost absurdly ambitious and there is a lot of skepticism in the comm satellite community that they will achieve their stated goals, especially at an affordable price point.

[mygo]

> especially at an affordable price point.

They don’t necessarily have to be affordable. You can be premium. They just have to be able to provide high speed internet and not be Comcast.

They might even make it realistic for more people to live out in rural areas where there either is no internet or what’s available is inhibitingly slow. That would be an interesting niche. People who choose to live out further than where telecomm companies will support have money to spend too. There’s pent up demand.

[lsaferite]

>there is a lot of skepticism in the comm satellite community that they will achieve their stated goals, especially at an affordable price point.

Not that I have any experience in that industry, but didn't the commercial rocket launch have the same set of opinions?