UPDATE: May the intrigued beware… Reddit users have pointed out that the mechanics of the Outernet’s donation system may be cause for concern. The connection between Outernet and the charity they say they are associated with seems a little hazy. The donated funds seem to go straight to the Outernet people rather than through the charity. Additionally, while the company’s portfolio review reports 283 funded projects, it is relatively sparse on details aside from that fact.
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If you’re like every human being in the modern world, you’re tired of paying for Internet access. However, since your neighbor already figured out you were stealing his for a while, and you’ve become less comfortable using that sketchy unlocked network, that Internet bill remains a part of your life. A company called Media Investment Solutions may have an answer to this issue with their initiative to launch a fleet of mini satellites into space that would provide free wireless internet to the entire world.
The mini satellites that would be sent into space are called cubesats, and it will require hundreds of them to create what the developers are calling the Outernet. Using datacasting technology, which sends data over wide radio waves, the Outernet team says their armada of cubesats will be able to broadcast internet all over the world.
A highly complex diagram of the Outernet concept from the company’s website. (Outernet)
One effect of the Outernet that is arguably more important than your Internet bill is the idea that it could be made available to people in those countries where the Internet is currently censored. Residents of nations like North Korea, China, Panem, and Airstrip One would no longer have their Internet filtered by their governments.
“There isn’t a lot of raw research that is being done here; much of what is being described has already been proven by other small satellite programs and experiments,” said Syed Karim, who answered questions regarding the project on Reddit. Karim added that “there’s really nothing that is technically impossible to this.”
Outernet logo – presumably inspired by Reading Rainbow’s. (Outernet)
To make the dream come true, the Outernet team will have to raise a handful of millions and are encouraging interested parties to donate via their website. The team hopes to launch their first satellites in June 2015.
What will be the best effect of the Outernet? How about the worst? Will free Internet for the world quicken the pace of modernization in third world countries? Will the Outernet’s IT guys just be astronauts?
Biblical prophecy unfolding. Closer and closer to world society, before the day of judgment. Not sure what I am talking about. It’s all in most sold, oldest book of all time.
:/ I want to believe.
It WILL happen eventually (not necessarily through this tech), it’s inevitable, But it would be awesome to see it happening now.
It would be great if it were true but I can’t see all the red tape being cut or some miserable people finding some way to block it
Latency would likely be quite liveable. Assuming an altitude of 1000 km, it would take about 0.33 seconds for a signal from Earth to reach the satellite. I would’t use it for gaming, but for general web browsing?A one-two second lag for free worldwide internet would be pretty acceptable. Low Earth orbit includes any altitude from 160 km to 2000km, so the lag might still be lower than that.
There’s also a Nigerian prince who needs me to wire him some money 😛
This seems to me like an idea that Verizon or AT&T would pay handsomely for, only to bury it. Or, Verizon, et al. could pay the fat cats in government to legislate against such a thing, perhaps due to the potential threat the Outernet may present to “national security” in the event it was appropriated and exploited by a terrorist element.
We need something like this to fall back on, what with the Comcast monopoly and the TPP.
It’s crucial that developers don’t cave to greed; the last thing we need is more corporate superhumans.
I’d be interested to see what the latency would be like. I would imagine it’d be pretty bad.
HA! Panem… I see what you did there… I chuckled 🙂
Suck on that, Comcast!