Esther Dyson wrote:
>
> So, an *endowment* for continuing funding of the Iridium project. That makes
> a lot of sense. There are many - billions of - people out there that could
> be helped by local commerce (so as to get clean water, decent food, etc.),
> so that their lives would be better while they live them, even if the lives
> do not extend beyond 100 years.
Hi Esther, thanks for contributing. I agree, though I wonder whether
satellites are actually the technology needed by undeveloped and
developing countries for extending communication systems to extreme
rural communities. I've done some research on the cost and utility of
weather balloon technologies, and I don't see any reason why any
underdeveloped nation cannot buy Iridium or Teledesic-like platforms
(which are compact and light) and mount them on large high altitude
balloons (15,000 to 30,000 feet) that are anchored by kevlar/carbon
fiber to ground stations. Such a setup should be able to cover very
large areas, with virtually 'no' launch costs (I'm thinking at least
70-90% of the total cost of each platform), the stations are not
inundated by radiation, and can be recovered by parachutes in the event
of a balloon failure, so lifetime should be longer.
>From my own experience living in the Puget Sound area, where Mount
Rainier climbs to almost 15,000 feet, and is visible for a radius of 100
miles at least, that a station at that altitude ought to be quite
useful, and more affordable than satellites.
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