The End is near?

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chadg2

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Apr 2, 2006
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Maiden Rock, WI
Looking at Lyngsat launches for 2019-2021 I don't see a single satellite launch for North America replacement. Are our satellites doomed with no replacements when end of life comes? Just seems odd nothing going up for us. Satellites like Galaxy 25, AMC 8, Galaxy 16, all should be replaced soon.
 
No the sky is not falling. :D
More and more channels are going to fiber....but satellite is still the best for remote and rural areas even today. So a good many years, before we can yell the sky is falling. ;)
 
DTV has one going up. Presumably the last one. Maybe just not scheduled yet?


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And just think: THOUSANDS of LEO and MEO Internet satellites are planned to go up!

Think any will make it to orbit and service? Or will 5G, or the THREAT of 5G, destroy their business plans?


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Looking at Lyngsat launches for 2019-2021 I don't see a single satellite launch for North America replacement.
That's probably more of an indictment of Lyngsat's list than it is a telltale. It is also important to remember that modern communications satellites are lasting 10-15 years so they don't need to be replaced as often. If you look back ten years, the recession hit and many satellite orders were put on hold or delayed. This may have induced a cycle into the deployment of satellites that will come around in a few years.

As MPEG2 (and, heaven forbid, analog) uplinks are replaced with newer technologies, the requirement for bandwidth goes down significantly.

So many launches are happening at new sites and via relatively new delivery services that it can be difficult to keep track of them all.

The greater danger to FTA is more and more properties being encrypted to ensure that the content providers get paid for what they deliver.
 
There is at least one company out there planning to make a business out of refueling satellites, so there is some hope to save some of what's up there or at least make new satellites refillable.
That doesn't seem reasonable. We don't have anything normally venturing out that far (the ISS and its tenders operate at or below 254 miles) and it doesn't address the issues of failing batteries and solar cells that restrict the useful life to a similar extent..

As time goes on, it is going to get harder with all of the proposed LEO and MEO constellations to launch many more GEO satellites.
 
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Of course announcing your intent is key to getting funding (and partnering with NASA) to determine if the proposal is even feasible. That the LEO and MEO market may desperately need such a service doesn't mean it is feasible to have someone driving around filling tanks like the guy that delivers home heating oil in the old neighborhood when the neighborhood is the Clarke Belt.

The article doesn't go into specifics about what kinds of satellites they're hoping to service and that's important. When you hear about someone who is servicing satellites in the Clarke Belt, that's something for the FTA community to get excited about (though perhaps only after the satellites designed to be refueled are in place with electricity sources that will last for at least a couple tanks of fuel). The article makes a big deal about fueling transports and that is something that has a proven analog in the aircraft business (especially military aircraft).
 
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