Comment by Sayrus
5 days ago
Starlink has over 10000 satellites. The goal of Eutelsat is 1000 by 2030. Starlink launched 3000 satellites in 2025 alone. Whether one satellite from Eutelsat provide the same service as one from Starlink, I don't know but it would be relevant.
I wish Eutelsat success, but the scale of funding is completely different.
Getting hung up on numbers isn't really correct. Much more goes into it - altitudes, satellite capabilities, target customers, etc. Large numbers is one approach but it is not the only one.
Go online and try to get one.
Ignore the cost and you'll figure it all out.
Ukraine and even Europe don't need global coverage though. The Russian system that they're testing at the moment is geostationary satellites over Ukraine.
Latency to geo isn't going to work for man controlled drones though
Sure, but autonomous control systems for cruise missiles and attack drones are improving rapidly. They aren't quite as good as remote human pilots but adequate for most missions except interdiction or close air support. So higher latency might not be a problem if satcomm is only needed for strike coordination.
The more significant technical problem with geostationary satellites is you need a much higher gain antenna. Tough to incorporate that into a small drone design. The Starlink/ Starshield terminal is a marvel of compact efficiency.
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