Can Starlink Ever Be Viable?

Elon Musk and his Corporation SpaceX has spent tremendous efforts developing a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation called Starlink. With over 1,000 satellites now in orbit and beta tests starting in multiple countries it is fair to ask whether Starlink is going to be a success. So far, the path of previous LEO initiatives has been littered with failure. Why? Because launching thousands of satellites, connecting them to individual low-cost user terminals and networks of ground-stations to connect to the Internet is intriguing but incredibly challenging. But that is not the most difficult part. The most difficult part is establishing effective distribution around the world and selling the service at an affordable price that is nevertheless sufficient to make money. LEO systems do not just serve one country or even one region. The orbiting satellites spend over 70% of their time over water – and the other 30% over every landmass in the world. They need a global market but unfortunately the world is not one place - it is a complicated myriad of different regulatory environments, different levels of development in terms of telecommunication needs and even more importantly different levels of economic ability to pay for a…