Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by Metus 979 days ago
As an amateur, that follows SpaceX from a distance, what makes the W-band so interesting?
3 comments
toomuchtodo 979 days ago
The first satellite to fly W Band was in 2021. It supports much higher data rates but has atmospheric attenuation issues. This would be the first commercial use of it. It's possible SpaceX is using this to reduce downlink bottlenecks.

https://web.archive.org/web/20231012142827/https://re.public...

https://connectivity.esa.int/news/first-wband-transmission-s...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W_band

link
lazide 979 days ago
It also has a history of active military use, especially for detecting weapons.
link
toomuchtodo 979 days ago
Excellent callout. Might be a component of Starshield. Hard to say until the RF is active in the wild or FCC filings are public (is it possible SpaceX is filing in Tonga to sidestep FCC public filings on the tech?). Would be wild if this system will be able to provide global airspace radar surveillance to the US DoD with high precision.

https://www.space.com/spacex-starshield-satellite-internet-m...

https://www.spacex.com/starshield/

link
HPsquared 979 days ago
I'm a fellow amateur, but I would say it allows higher bandwidth than X-band. It's a higher frequency range, shorter wavelength.

Edit: it might be worse for signal propagation through the atmosphere though...

https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Engineering_Techn...

Probably a bit like 2.4 GHz vs 5GHz WiFi.

link
h2odragon 979 days ago
The "passive radar" resolution on the WiFi frequencies isn't good enough anymore; the shorter wavelengths will allow imaging of individual cells.
link