The Starlink team is no longer satisfied with only providing networks on the earth. They are aiming beyond the earth and plan to spread high-speed Internet to the moon and even further into deep space.The Roam Interplanetary launched this time is a communication solution specially designed for the moon, which can achieve gigabit-level network connections on the lunar surface.Whether it is a lunar rover, a base habitat, or astronauts active on the lunar surface, they can access stable networks anytime and anywhere.
Judging from the official preview, this system consists of two parts.One part is a group of satellites in lunar orbit, which will form a ring-shaped relay network to relay signals from the moon back to the earth.
The other part is the lunar surface terminal, which is like a base station standing on the surface of the moon. It is powered by solar panels and directly provides signal coverage to nearby devices.
Interestingly, the lunar terminal design displayed by the Starlink team is in the shape of a stone tablet, which is obviously a tribute to the science fiction movie "2001: A Space Odyssey".
These satellites will be connected to each other using laser links, and then docked with the Starlink satellite group in earth orbit to form a high-speed data channel from the earth to the moon. In this way, even if the lunar rover reaches the invisible back side of the earth, the network will not be disconnected.
This network will play a great role in future lunar exploration. Astronauts can communicate with the earth in real time, the lunar rover does not have to wait long to send back high-definition images, and scientific research data from the base can also be transmitted back stably.
