I guess it's like the OLPC thingy .. while I agree everyone should have access to a computer and the world of information .. clean water, basic drugs and a society that allows free expression is way more important. Anything else just distracts from those basic rights (as I see it anyhow).
You're right, hunger and HIV are also important issues - not to mention access to clean water. That doesn't mean that only one problem at a time can be addressed.
Of the many activities in life for which prior experience are essential for success: buying assets out of bankruptcy; re-tasking a communications satellite...
So, I perused the bios, and I'm just really not convinced that they could pull it off. Looks like a bunch of smart and really well meaning (young) people. Needs more billionaire greybeard.
They're going to build a network around a single satellite with no backup or (it appears) budget to build / launch a new one?
How do they intend to move this satellite? I know they talked to the owners and they say it's possible but I'd be curious to know the cost of the project. I am not an orbital mechanics engineer but it from my limited knowledge satellites only have enough fuel for minor course adjustments over their lifetime. Even if you could use much of it to completely reposition that would foreshorten the useful life of the satellite? And as of a few months from now the only current orbital recapture system (the shuttle) is being mothballed.
Just my initial quick thoughts. Sometimes great things come from seemingly grandiose plans though.
They will move the satellite by firing the East/West stationkeeping thrusters. Geosynchronous satellites, like the terrestar 1, need to periodically adjust their orbit to stay in their assigned slot. Aside from electronics failures, the operational life of a satellite is determined by how much fuel they carry, and how often stationkeeping is needed.
These kinds of moves are done currently. For example, the GOES constellation operated by NOAA has a backup satellite on-orbit ready to be moved to replace a failed satellite. It costs extra fuel from the limited onboard tank. In the case of GOES they plan for this fuel use. For Terrestar, it would shorten the 15 year lifespan some.
For example, what happens if they raise the seed financing of $150,000 to get started, but another bidder buys the satellite while they're ramping up? What happens to the money raised?
How will donors be able to track the success of the project in the short term and long term? Will donors have a voice in the decision-making process when it comes time to put the satellite into use?
The t-shirts are cool and all that, but they need to establish some credibility and publish a detailed plan.
Aside from the satellite itself, it seems this project is dependent on a "low cost open source modem", design and details TBD.
They reference a $12 Indian laptop, which has already been mostly proven to be an unrealistic pipe-dream. The $12 cost is the cost to the end-user after a government subsidy. Not realistic or scalable in terms of building a business dependent on this device.
No mention of the ISP on the other end of this satellite that is providing the free access (vague mention of reselling high-speed access through other ISP's).
I'm not familiar with how much bandwidth a single satellite can handle, but it can't be more than a couple of Gb/s, especially for an older unit. They are talking about a footprint of 6-249M people. Even on the low-end, this doesn't seem like it's going to provide a super-usable connection.
This is a noble project, and I wish them luck, but remain highly skeptical that the idea was formed in conjunction with beers, bongs, or both.
The project is not talking about the Telemetry Tracking and Control (TT&C) of the satellite. TerreStar-1 is a GEO satellite and you'll need to make regular manoeuvrings to keep the footprint stable too. Operating a satellite is costly and require a 24/7 staff... I don't really think that the project is realistic with such level of funding.
Figure a very tall tower for $50K, then smaller 75 foot guyed towers at $5k each. Decent Wifi-band outdoor equipment is less than $1k per end including all wiring. Add a small generator and battery backup (even solar panels) at each location - you are talking far less than 300W (0.3kW) needed to run each tower.
So if you found a number of towns/cities you could serve, you could place the tall tower in the center with the small towers at each town. Now all you need is some form of Internet at the big tower to feed everyone else.
