We are eagerly anticipating the launch of SpaceX’s Starlink, a satellite-based, broadband internet system. With Starlink, SpaceX aims to provide near-global internet service by late 2021 or 2022. Widely available internet access will be a huge boon for parks in remote areas that frequently suffer from a lack of communications infrastructure, often including a lack of basic cell coverage.
A batch of 60 Starlink test satellites stacked atop a Falcon 9 rocket, close to being put in orbit.
With access to the internet, park authorities can more easily stay in touch with each other and with colleagues outside the park, and have greater access to resources such as online information and training opportunities. It will also become easier to deploy better park and wildlife protection systems, like cellular trailcam surveillance and cloud-based protection systems.
Commercial operation could begin in 2020, but will not likely reach many countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia for years to come. Global Conservation will begin testing the Starlink system next year with 5G Cellular Trailcams. The ability to connect low-cost Cellular Trailcams and other sensors to a satellite0based network would open incredible opportunities for park authorities to expand protection across large areas without investing in expensive cellular or digital radio towers and infrastructure.
SpaceX's billionaire founder and CEO Elon Musk has approval to launch about 12,000 Starlink satellites and recently applied for permission to loft up to 30,000 more. SpaceX needs about 400 Starlink craft to provide "minor" coverage and 800 for "moderate" coverage, Musk said earlier this year.
As of September 2020, the company has launched 715 satellites into orbit. A number of additional such launches will be required before Starlink can beam data for the rest of us, including many “dark parks” in developing countries with no cellular service.
SpaceX isn't the only company with internet-satellite plans. Amazon aims to launch more than 3,000 broadband craft of its own, and OneWeb launched the first six satellites of a 650-strong constellation earlier this year. The total cost of the decade-long project to design, build and deploy the constellation was estimated by SpaceX in May 2018 to be about US$10 billion.
SpaceX has revealed key details about the planned constellation’s abilities, stating that the satellites have shown “super low latency and download speeds greater than 100 mbps.” Users will tap into the constellation using personal antennas on the ground. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has described them as looking like a “UFO on a stick.”
By taking advantage of technical advances like Starlink, we can ensure that Global Park Defense remains on the cutting edge and provides the most efficient protection for the world’s wildlands.
UPDATE: Global Conservation Secures $100,000 Grant from the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust for TASA and Supports Turneffe Atoll with another $300,000 a year for Protection and Enforcement through the deployment of Marine Monitors on the North and South ends of Turneffe Atoll to provide 24/7 monitoring for real-time response to potential illegal activities, both day and night.
read moreGlobal Conservation helps fund a major expansion of Calakmul that also now boasts the first Mexican tropical forest reserve, joint-operations rangers crack down on illegal activity that has crime syndicates scared to enter the area, GC supports the Protection of Jaguars Throughout the Heart of La Selva Maya, critical resources are provided for the Amigos de Calakmul Community REDD+ Program, and communities meet to strengthen and support for their lands.
read moreGlobal conservation's multi-year investment in park-wide protection, local communities, and new poacher-sensing technologies enhances the well-being of both wildlife and people living in and around Bardiya National Park (BNP). By partnering with ZSL Nepal, concise efforts to upgrade the training and livelihoods of the rangers across every region in BNP helps to bring better awareness of poacher intrusions and provides speedier deployment to intercept poachers, thereby increasing wildlife populations.
read moreIn his Forbes Interview, Jeff Morgan talks about how the planet grapples with the consequences of illegal actions while creating an understanding about what positive actions need to happen in the future to save wildlands and the local communities attached to them, and how ecotourism can help fund National Parks and World Heritage Sites' protection.
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