The Executive Directors Blog

Five Things You Should Know about Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite Internet services

Posted on: 1 October 2024
By: director

A. What is the difference between low-earth orbit (LEO) and traditional Geostationary-Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite Internet services?

Satellite technologies play an important role in global connectivity and earth observation. Both Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Geostationary-Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites are used to provide internet connectivity services, but they differ significantly in their characteristics and performance.

LEO Satellites (e.g., Space X Starlink satellites) orbits the earth at low altitudes of between 200 and 2000 Kilometres. Because of this, LEO systems require a large constellation (sometimes 1000s) of satellites to provide global coverage. GEO satellites on the other hand orbit the earth at 35,786 KM and require about 3 satellites for global coverage (see Figure 1). They are called GEO satellites because they rotate at the same speed as the earth and so appear stationary.

The proximity to the earth of LEO satellites offers lower latency and higher speeds compared GEO satellites translating to superior user experience. LEO satellites communicate with each other in a constellation using lasers but are also connected to terrestrial communications at selected earth station hubs. Examples of LEO satellites operators with coverage in Kenya and Africa are Starlink and EUTELSAT Oneweb. The cost of setting up and maintaining a LEO satellite system is very high due to the high number of satellites required to operate. Moreover, LEO satellites operate in much harsher environments as compared to GEO satellites that include atmospheric drag resulting in a shorter lifespan of only about five years. A large number of replacement satellites must be launched every year.

Financing the upgrade and expansion of campus networks

A dedicated national academic network, also called a National Research and Education Network (NREN) has three main segments as shown in Figure 1:

The campus networks that are owned and operated by member academic institutions.
A dedicated national distribution network operated the national research and education network (NREN) organization, KENET in case of Kenya. The distribution network segment interconnects the campus networks, making it possible to national academic resources.
The international network segments that connect academic institutions to the global academic Internet as well as the global Internet. This is also operated by the NREN organization.

The Future of Kenyan Universities - Five Reasons for Optimism and Hope

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence” – Hellen Keller . The cancellation of the Letter of Interim Authority for Presbyterian University of Eastern Africa (PUEA), Commission for University Education (CUE) warnings to Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) and Kenya Methodist University (KEMU), the closure of close to 14 university campuses in 2017, the reduced number of 2017 KCSE candidates eligible for direct university admissions appears to suggest that there is reason for the university leadership to be alarmed.

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