A look at low Earth orbit use cases

The need for another connectivity option

Although several options for network connectivity are available, they each have a downside. Fiber, for example, is the mainstay of enterprise connectivity, but it's not without pitfalls. The farther away a network is from an urban center, the harder it is to obtain fiber without a hefty cost.

Cable broadband has expanded the wired high-speed WAN footprint well past fiber availability. But, similar to cable, organizations farther away from a metropolitan area likely have to pay to string or trench new cables to a site.

DSL and legacy copper time-division multiplexing services are still available in some places where fiber and cable aren't available. These methods typically have low throughput and are generally more expensive for higher speeds.

Wireless options like 4G and 5G data services have created a wireless WAN footprint larger than cable. But, in many places, even in outer-ring suburbs, cellular networks are out of reach from adequate data rates and reliable service.

Beyond cellular services, satellite internet has been a reality for decades. However, satellite connectivity has typically been delivered from middle- and high-Earth orbits, which means it's costly, offers low speed and capacity, and suffers from high latency.

These considerations indicate a need for a new form of connectivity in the enterprise portfolio.

LEO use cases

LEO offers several advantages over traditional network connectivity options, including the following:

• Provides connectivity to unreachable locations.
• Implements network redundancy.
• Supports IoT.

LEO for unreachable locations

One of the main reasons enterprises should consider LEO for their networks is its ability to deliver connectivity in places unserved or underserved by other options. Ideal candidates for LEO connectivity due to location include the following:

• Mines.
• Farms and vineyards.
• Forestry operations.
• Oil fields and oil platforms.
• Trains and remote railyards.
• Logistics facilities.
• Ships at sea.
• Academic, government or commercial locations in rural areas.

LEO internet is also an option for any facility located in an area without reliable cable or fiber connections. This is often the case in areas with damaged, limited or aging infrastructure. For example, LEO internet can be a viable alternative for primary connectivity in a location with cable broadband that doesn't have five-nines availability due to aging infrastructure.

Organizations can receive LEO satellite connectivity from multiple providers anywhere in North America and most areas in Europe, Oceania and South America. The only criterion necessary for LEO is an unobstructed view of the sky. LEO coverage continues to expand steadily as current providers add and upgrade satellites. More providers plan to bring up services throughout the next year or so.

LEO for a redundant path

Ensuring operations in a modern organization requires maintaining continuous connectivity. Network links fail on their own or due to natural and other disasters, so organizations must prioritize network redundancy to maintain operations.

Organizations can achieve the lowest level of redundancy by duplicating the primary connection. For example, if an organization uses broadband as its primary connectivity option, it can establish a second broadband connection. If it uses fiber, it can establish a second fiber connection -- and so on.

Redundancy improves when the second link is on a physical path different from the first. In that case, single events, like a backhoe digging in the wrong place or a fire-damaged fiber bundle, won't affect both links.

Organizations should also receive the second link from a provider different from the primary one. If a problem occurs on one provider's network, such as a failed router software upgrade, it won't affect the other link. A problem with one's fiber handoff infrastructure won't affect all the links in the network.

The best redundancy, however, requires the secondary link to display all those layers of difference. Ideally, the second link should be from a different provider, be on a different path and use a different technology.

Satellite connectivity offers all three. It does the best possible job of enabling path redundancy because it removes the entire surrounding geography from consideration. For example, natural disasters, such as wildfires, can destroy a region's wired and cellular connectivity. LEO data services remain available in these situations.

LEO and IoT

LEO can also connect objects. Currently, the size of these objects must be large due to the size of the antennas. Current large-object IoT use cases for LEO include networking items, such as barges, shipping containers, semitrailers and rail cars. As LEO-based cellular data services come online in 2025, smaller objects the size of a cellphone will also be able to use satellite rather than terrestrial connectivity.

LEO drawbacks

While LEO offers improvements over typical network connectivity options, it also has drawbacks. Disadvantages of LEO include the following:

• Weather interference.
• Cost considerations.
• Performance issues.

Weather interference

Weather is one concern of satellite connectivity that doesn't generally affect wired options. While natural disasters, such as tornadoes, hurricanes or heavy ice storms, can take down suspended cabling, the weather doesn't typically affect wired networks. LEO internet, though, can see periods of degraded performance in anything heavier than moderate rainfall or snow. Thunderstorms, snow or solar flares can cause interruptions of service.

Cost considerations

LEO networks tend to be less expensive than older satellite options, but they're still typically more expensive than broadband and fiber for higher speeds.

Performance inconsistencies

As fast as LEO is compared to older satellite technology, it still can't match wired and 5G options for higher-speed and higher-capacity connectivity. Also, although LEO has less latency than older satellite services, LEO networks still come in at the high end of typical internet link latencies in the 20 to 40 millisecond (ms) range.

They are unsuitable for low-latency use cases, such as real-time remote control of an autonomous vehicle, because the distance even to an LEO satellite renders sub-10 ms responses physically impossible.

The move toward LEO

With those cautions in mind, as LEO networks grow in number, capacity, and coverage and as receiver technologies improve, LEO internet will become a more viable alternative or more comparable to wired connectivity in a variety of use cases.

John Burke is CTO and a research analyst at Nemertes Research. Burke joined Nemertes in 2005 with nearly two decades of technology experience. He has worked at all levels of IT, including as an end-user support specialist, programmer, system administrator, database specialist, network administrator, network architect and systems architect.