The Sky Connect: How Satellite Internet Is Revolutionizing Rural and Remote Life
LEO satellites orbit at roughly 500–1,200 km, delivering latency of about 20–50 ms and broadband speeds comparable to terrestrial networks, versus GEO’s ~600 ms latency. SpaceX Starlink has launched over 7,000 satellites since 2019, provides coverage in about 130 countries, had more than 4 million subscribers by late 2024, and offers 50–200 Mbps to rural homes with a pizza-box–sized dish. OneWeb has 618 active LEO satellites with global coverage achieved in early 2023, merged with Europe’s Eutelsat in 2022, and now focuses on enterprise and government backhaul rather than consumer services. ViaSat-3 consists of three GEO high-throughput satellites launched in