| Starlink cellphone connection operates very differently. It’s a different system on different frequencies with different limitations, and it doesn’t scale well. > If by next to each other you mean several km apart, yes By close I mean inches. Phased array’s aren’t great at directionality, but both the satellite and the receiver are using them which makes a real difference because the satellites are in different locations even if the receivers aren’t. At the limit satellite A has a few spot beams one is aimed at say one World Trade Center which also covers several blocks around it. It’s 5 miles from satellite B which isn’t aiming at that location, but another satellite say G that’s 20km away is. Hypothetically 2 ground stations X1 and X2 are 1 foot apart on the roof of one trade center. X1 can get a signal from satellite A at 25 DB higher than the signal from satellites G because there’s a few degree difference in incoming angle and 50DB higher than from B which is both a degree off and aiming elsewhere. Similarly A receives a single from X1 that’s 25 DB higher than from X2 because their signals are aiming in different directions.
(DB numbers were picked from a hat but I had a several variables already.) The real world isn’t that simple, and there’s no way in hell their software is setup for that many satellites but phased array antenna on both side makes a big difference here. |