STARLINK for our needs?

Been wondering a little bit about this myself.

I seem to remember a GPSWorld (or XYHt?) article discussing the possibility of LEO satellites for positioning.

I think the gist was that not only would they need to have precision clocks ($$$$) installed and L-band broadcasting capabilities (increasing the payload on what were intended to be smaller and less expensive satellites), but they would also need a far more robust tracking system than currently in place. Something about how LEO satellites are tougher to track with the same precision as MEO satellites.

It's not impossible, but there are bigger hurdles than we would think.

I'll see if I can dig up that article.?ÿ

?ÿ

I'd be more interested in getting an internet connection in remote places using Starlink for VRS.?ÿ

I'd be more interested in the short term for the improvement in comms as at present rural work is limited by cell coverage for network rtk and topography for base/rover rtk

I saw the line of satellites last week for the first time dozens in a row, kinda spooky if you didn't know what it was. And was it a coincidence that my home internet wifi speed was Super Boosted for about an hour, then?ÿ all went back to factory defaults, needed to reset Wifi network name, password, etc. for the first time in 5 years, and back to Slow speed. Whoa. Weird.

JW

I asked Mr Javad this last year.?ÿ He did not indicate that Starlink as proposed would be of benefit beyond the internet connection.

I was hoping that he could figure out a way to use the comm signal for some sort of positioning, but as others have said I think it would take an atomic clock on-board.?ÿ

?ÿ

I did not ask, but recently have considered: Once the laser interlinks are in place, I wonder if there would be a way to link the starlink constellation with just a handful of special atomic clock carrying starlink satellites, thereby broadcasting the signal across the whole constellation??ÿ 1200+ GPS satellites anyone??ÿ We are going to need more processing power! lol.

One thing about Starlink for sure is completely autonomous driving will be enhanced. ?????ÿ

Posted by: @flga-2

How so?

@bill93

https://m.futurecar.com/4239/Elon-Musks-Next-Big-Thing-Could-Be-Using-the-SpaceX-Starlink-Network-to-Connect-Tesla-Vehicles

I couldn't find the original articles that I read a while back, but I did find one from just this month, discussing the possibility of using Doppler shifts for positioning, thus eliminating the need for atomic clocks on LEO constellations:

TRANSIT on Steroids: Doppler-Based GNSS Meets Large LEO Constellations

The article is largely technical, and some of the concepts are a bit over my head, but the authors did a pretty good job explaining how this could be accomplished.

Unfortunately, their simulations showed a theoretical accuracy of ~2 meters at best. Probably good in support of nautical/aeronautical navigation and for a data link to autonomous vehicles, but that's about it:

"These accuracy numbers and the overall GDOP analysis have been verified through application of a batch filter to simulated Doppler shift data [3]. One simulation test has examined the impact of ephemeris errors that produce errors in the filterƒ??s versions of the satellitesƒ?? positions, velocities, and transmitter clock frequency offsets. It considered per-axis RMS satellite position errors of 2 m, per-axis RMS satellite velocity errors of 0.002 m/sec, and RMS satellite clock offset rate errors of 3.3??10-11 seconds/sec. The resulting position error magnitudes for 100 Monte-Carlo simulation cases were 2.3 m RMS and 5.4 m peak. The velocity error magnitudes were 0.013 m/sec RMS and 0.044 m/sec peak. The clock offsets were 0.33 msec RMS and 0.90 msec peak."

@flga-2 Don't need internet connection for that. Trimble is doing it without internet.

https://www.trimble.com/news/release.aspx?id=120320a