One Beam, Worked Through: From Antenna to Revenue
How do physics, spectrum and pricing combine in a single satellite beam, and what does one beam earn?
Chapter summary
A worked example ties the study together.
Key takeaways
- 1
Take a next-generation satellite at 520 km with a 223 m² array serving a phone at 1.9 GHz with 5 MHz of spectrum.
- 2
The link budget gives a signal-to-noise ratio of roughly 18 dB at the phone, enough for about 15 Mbps in the beam (Setcoin calculation).
- 3
If 1,000 active users share that beam in a rural area, each receives about 15 kbps on average at the busiest moment: ample for messages, adequate for voice, too little for video.
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