INTERNET SPECIAL Forget the Internet - soon there will
be the OUTERNET:
Company plans to beam free Wi-fi to every person on Earth from
space
- An ambitious project known as Outernet is aiming to launch hundreds of miniature satellites into low Earth orbit by June 2015
- Each satellite will broadcast the Internet to phones and computers giving billions of people across the globe free online access
- Citizens of countries like China and North Korea that have censored online activity could be given free and unrestricted cyberspace
- 'There's really nothing that is technically impossible to this'
You might think you have to pay
through the nose at the moment to access the Internet.
But one ambitious organisation
called the Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) is planning to turn the age
of online computing on its head by giving free web access to every person on
Earth.
And they say the project could
provide unrestricted Internet access to countries where their web access is
censored, including China and North Korea.
The New York company plans to ask
NASA to test their Outernet technology on the International Space Station
(left) so that they can begin broadcasting Wi-Fi to web users around the world
(right)
Using something known as datacasting
technology, which involves sending data over wide radio waves, the New
York-based company says they'll be able to broadcast the Internet around the
world.
The group is hoping to raise tens of
millions of dollars in donations to get the project on the road.
The Outernet team claim that only
60% of the world's population currently have access to the wealth of knowledge
that can be found on the Internet.
This is because, despite a wide
spread of Wi-FI devices across the globe, many countries are unable or
unwilling to provide people with the infrastructure needed to access the web.
The Outernet project is aiming to
raise tens of millions of dollars to launch hundreds of miniature satellites
known as cubesats to make their dream a reality
The company's plan is to launch
hundreds of low-cost miniature satellites, known as cubesats, into low Earth
orbit.
Here, each satellite will receive
data from a network of ground stations across the globe.
Using a technique known as User
Datagram Protocol (UDP) multitasking, which is the sharing of data between
users on a network, Outernet will beam information to users.
Much like how you receive a signal
on your television and flick through channels, Outernet will broadcast the
Internet to you and allow you to flick through certain websites.
THE
OUTERNET PROJECT TIMELINE
By June of this year the Outernet
project aims to begin deploying prototype satellites to test their technology
In September 2014 they will make a
request to NASA to test their technology on the International Space Station
By early 2015 they intend to begin
manufacturing and launching their satellites
And in June 2015 the company says
they will begin broadcasting the Outernet from space
'We have a very solid understand of
the costs involved, as well as experience working on numerous spacecraft,' said
Project Lead of Outernet Syed Karim, who fielded some questions on Reddit.
'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.
There's really nothing that is
technically impossible to this'
But at the prospect of telecoms
operators trying to shut the project down before it gets off the ground, Karim
said: 'We will fight... and win.'
If everything goes to plan, the
Outernet project aims to ask NASA for permission to test the technology on the
International Space Station.
And their ultimate goal will be to
beginning deploying the Outernet satellites into Earth orbit, which they say
can begin in June 2015.
By Daily Mail Reporter
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2552177/Forget-Internet-soon-OUTERNET-Company-plans-beam-free-wi-fi-person-Earth-space.html#ixzz2x89RkQZ5
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