Open and Managed Server Sky Arrays

Deployment of Server Sky will require consensus approval of the International Telecommunications Union, which assigns orbits and frequencies. It will not be allowed to launch without meeting the needs of all of ITU's member nations.

Many western nations (North America, Europe, etc.) demand open and uncensored access to the internet, except for copyright restrictions. This is the (mostly) open model. Other nations want to manage their citizen's access to the internet, reducing spam, viruses, pornography, and subversion. As a Yank, I desire open access, but I recognize that others have different desires, and server sky should serve both markets.

Server Sky deploys in equatorial orbit, where there is always an "east-west" and "north-south" orientation. Radio waves are also polarized at 90 degree angles; an antenna oriented for "vertical" will interoperate poorly with an antenna oriented for "horizontal". Thinsats are large phased array slotted antennas. While the pictures on this site show thinsats with vertical slots, the thinsats in an array can be turned 90 degrees and radiate horizontally as well. All the thinsats in an array should be oriented the same way, and the ground antennas that talk to the array also oriented that way.

A north-south orientation of antenna slots corresponds to vertical polarization, and will arbitrarily be assigned to managed access. An east-west orientation corresponds to horizontal polarization, and will support unmanaged access.

On the ground, a unmanaged phased array panel will have horizontal slots, and an managed phased array panel will have vertical slots. For those countries that control such things, an unmanaged ground panel will be obvious with its horizontal slots, and can be legally restricted and enforced. The horizontal arrangement may (TBD) have better signal to antennas in the far north and south, where more of the "unmanaged" nations are.

MoreLater