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this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023
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Constellation based systems are not a good system.
The only benefit they bring is low latency, and they have severe downsides to get that latency. Their orbits are so low that they need to account for atmospheric drag, and many satellites simply burn up in the upper atmosphere before their lifespan is complete.
Geosynchronous or other high altitude satellites also offer global coverage without costing billions in maintenance launches, and are only a few dozen milliseconds slower for connections. High altitude satellites are also less vulnerable to physical attack, and only need to be replaced when they run out of station keeping fuel.
Have you ever been on geostationary satellite internet? Pings of 1,000 - 2,000 are common.
The minimum additional ping is 240ms purely due to the time it takes light to move 13,816 km and back. That is ping added on top of all the standard network latencies. It's fundamentally a high-latency system.