GBIT

Overview

GBIT was a concept I developed in 2022 for a massive satellite network. Note: This was just a concept and development did not take place.

Gbit Satellite Network - Concept Overview

Around the solar system and even outside of it, would be hundreds of thousands of operational Gbit satellites, enabling communication as well as internet access galaxy-wide. Gbit satellites use powerful optical lasers for data transmissions. Though one single Gbit satellite would have the capability of sending messages from X star system to Y star system, there would, in a way, be a network of Gbit satellites in between these two star systems, enabling more reliable communication and redundancy.

Optical Laser Communication

Most communications satellites, such as those part of the OneWeb constellation, use radio waves to transmit information across space and down to people on Earth. Gbit, however, uses optical lasers (infrared light) to transmit information. To successfully transmit information using such optical lasers, extreme precision of the laser and receiver must be achieved. For this reason, Gbit uses tiltable mirrors to adjust the angle of the laser. Although this need for high precision with little room for error is an obvious disadvantage of optical laser communication, it allows for, in contrast to radio waves, more data to be transmitted in a single downlink. So, though optical lasers don't move faster than radio waves in terms of actual velocity, it ultimately makes data transmission quite faster.

Power Management and Wireless Charging

If a Gbit satellite is too distant from its star, or is behind a planet/moon for a prolonged period of time, making solar charging impossible, and its batteries will soon become depleted, a nearby Gbit satellite with sufficient charge can autonomously use its built-in microwave transmitter (at relatively close range) to recharge the dying Gbit neighbor. If the nearest Gbit satellite's batteries are also nearing depletion, and light from the star it's orbiting is obstructed due to the satellite's current position, that satellite will be charged via a microwave transmission by another nearby Gbit satellite with sufficient charge, where the now-charged satellite will charge the original satellite which was dying. It's essentially a chain. It would make it quite difficult for a Gbit satellite to completely die. It goes without saying that computers are extremely capable and easily handle multiple tasks at once, and this would allow a Gbit satellite to be capable of transmitting data for the Gbit communications network, as well as charging a nearby low-battery Gbit satellite, both simultaneously. It may become ideal to have a separate type of Gbit satellites with larger solar panels and possibly radioisotope thermoelectric generators dedicated to keeping Gbit satellites charged in areas where starlight is obstructed, or in an orbit too far for the solar panels to generate more energy than needed by the satellite to fully function.

Shielding and Physical Durability

Operating across decades in space, Gbit satellites would inevitably be exposed to micrometeorites and debris, particularly in busier regions of a solar system. For this reason, Gbit satellites would be outfitted with shielding capable of absorbing or deflecting small, high-velocity impacts without compromising the satellite's core systems. In the event that a component is damaged, the satellite's onboard computer would detect the fault and, where possible, reroute functions to redundant systems. Given the sheer number of Gbit satellites in any given region of space, the network itself also provides a layer of resilience, as neighboring satellites can compensate for reduced output from a damaged unit until it either recovers or is eventually replaced.

Propulsion

Gbit satellites would utilize xenon-powered ion thrusters. They use electric fields to ionize xenon gas, stripping electrons from xenon atoms to create positively charged ions. These ions are then accelerated through a high-voltage electric grid to extremely high exhaust velocities, generating thrust as they are expelled from the thruster. This allows for a remarkably high specific impulse, which is critical for satellites needing to maintain precise network positions across decades with servicing missions being unlikely. Since Gbit satellites would already carry substantial power generation hardware to drive their optical laser arrays, microwave transmitters, onboard computers, and tiltable mirror systems, the electrical power demand of the ion thrusters is largely absorbed into the existing power infrastructure. In a sense, propulsion comes with relatively little additional design cost once the power systems sized for the satellite's communications role.

A Galaxy Connected

The Gbit concept would enable countless human beings around the solar system and outside of it to access the internet and remain in communication (although sometimes delayed, due to the limits of the speed of light) with each other via these satellites.