Company launches satellite to provide internet to island nations

22 Dec 2019

Company launches satellite to provide internet to island nations

Company launches satellite to provide internet to island nationsThere are thousands of islands in the Pacific Ocean, between Asia's southern coast and Australia. Most of these islands do not have access to the internet.

Now, a company called Kacific aims to provide internet to these islands.

This week, they launched a satellite, Kacific-1, for this purpose, onboard a SpaceX flight.
 	The company's founder, Christian Patouraux, says the satellite will bring internet to over a million people.

Why do many islands not have internet yet?

Internet is mostly provided through fibre optic cables. But it is expensive to lay them across the ocean floor to bring internet to these islands.
 	The islands are also mostly rural areas (villages). So, companies have not made the effort to do the necessary work.

So, what is Kacific doing?

They realised that providing the internet through satellite is not the cheapest way but they felt that it would be the best way.
 	Kacific-1 is positioned above the Asia-Pacific region, at a height of about 22,000 miles above in space.
 	A few ground stations, called teleports, will bounce Kacific-1's signal to antennas, creating internet hot spots.
 	The antennas cost about US$500 to 1000. So, it may be too expensive for individuals but it will be useful for schools, offices, hospitals, etc.

Mr Patouraux says that he wants to help people get internet services, which they have needed for very long and will be very useful for them. He aims to extend the services in the future.

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