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posted by Fnord666 on Monday July 23 2018, @09:58AM   Printer-friendly
from the spacial-mesh dept.

This May, sleuths at IEEE Spectrum revealed something exciting -- Facebook appeared to be secrely working on an experimental satellite that could beam internet down to Earth using millimeter wave radio signals.

Now, Facebook has confirmed to Wired and CNET that the satellite, dubbed Athena, is indeed a Facebook project -- and that Facebook is a believer in satellite internet technology.

"While we have nothing to share about specific projects at this time, we believe satellite technology will be an important enabler of the next generation of broadband infrastructure, making it possible to bring broadband connectivity to rural regions where internet connectivity is lacking or non-existent," a Facebook spokesperson told CNET and Wired.

But Wired does have more to share about this specific project. Using a Freedom of Information Act request, Wired says it obtained emails from the FCC that reportedly show Facebook plans to launch the Athena satellite in early 2019. In space launch terms, that's coming up pretty dang fast.


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  • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday July 23 2018, @10:03AM (1 child)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 23 2018, @10:03AM (#711124) Journal

    Millimeter wave radio spectrum? Does it move faster than light? Will it not lag like a three year old trying to keep up with Mommy at the mall?

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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 23 2018, @01:53PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 23 2018, @01:53PM (#711212)

    Millimeter wave radio spectrum?

    What's wrong with that? Sure, these days we are more used to specification in frequencies; a wave length of 1 Millimeter corresponds to a frequency of 300 GHz. That's certainly enough for decent data rates.

    Does it move faster than light?

    Of course not. Nothing does.

    Will it not lag like a three year old trying to keep up with Mommy at the mall?

    Depends on the height. At the height of the ISS (about 300 km height), the lag will be two milliseconds (one up and one down), plus whatever time the satellite takes between receiving and sending, of course. Short enough for most applications.