Starlink has solved one of the most significant problems in satellite internet communications — and demonstrated it in a uniquely creative way.
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Starlink's new generation of satellite internet relies on laser beams instead of conventional radio waves, resulting in a dramatic reduction in connection latency.
Starlink teamed up with SpaceX (both companies owned by Elon Musk) to showcase the improvement in an original way.
Astronaut Sarah Gillis played a melody from *Star Wars* while floating aboard a spacecraft in outer space.
Her performance was accompanied by musicians from around the world, with synchronization between them made possible by Starlink's real-time communications.
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And for the curious, here's a bit of the science behind the story:
Radio waves, laser beams, and light are all waves on the electromagnetic spectrum, and they all travel at nearly 300,000 kilometers per second.
The switch from radio waves to laser beams might therefore seem inconsequential.
The explanation for the speed improvement that comes with the shift to lasers is different — and interesting.
Originally, Starlink satellites transmitted data using radio waves at high frequencies that are susceptible to interference.
This made them inefficient for satellite-to-satellite communication, so data had to be sent down to ground relay stations, which handled part of the transmission path.
In the new generation, laser-based communication is focused and precise, enabling data to travel entirely via satellites — significantly shortening the path the data must travel.
A further point is that the frequency of light waves is far higher than that of standard radio waves.
This means there are many more wave peaks per second, allowing a much greater amount of information to be modulated onto the signal every second.