back to article NASA researching 'nanosats' for orbiting 5G space network

NASA's Ames Research Center is teaming with the often sinister-sounding Machine-to-Machine Intelligence Corporation (m2mi) to create a global networking system using small satellites they call "nanosats." The two organizations intend to develop swarms of spacecrafts weighing between 11 and 110 pounds, which will be placed in …

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  1. Astarte

    Space Junk

    It must be time for someone to update this assessment of the stuff floating around up there:

    http://www.abarnett.demon.co.uk/atheism/space_junk.html

  2. Andus McCoatover
    Alert

    5G??

    Is that the G-forces to be experienced when the whole shebang (commercially) falls to earth?

    Not many seem to want 3G let alone 4. But 5?? LTE?? Bollock*s.

    If it *does* take off, it'll scare the bejeezers out of Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks, et. al. Plus the global network operators. Guess we'll all have to use The Orange Spit (cingular)

  3. Gareth Davies

    Ummm, his isn't all that new.......

    Sounds like Iridium Mk2 to me!

    Iridium was killed of by GSM, so this will have to go toe to toe with whatever land based system comes after WIMAX and LTE.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    I know what we all want now!

    MORE! Tin-Foil Hats :)

    Seriously though, it will mean anyone anywhere on the planet will be able to send or recieve phone calls, which will really piss off all the Dictatorships (zimbawbei, china, north korea, Israel, USA, etc...) as they wont be able to stop the suppressed masses from sending/receiving subversive messages to/from the rest ofthe world.

    Also it enables any dodgy warlord/dictator to remotly fly his dodgy WMD laden drone aircraft to any destination on just a mobile phone(i wonder if they will put the damage on his bill as well?) though i would suspect he will be using a hacked account or call forwarding.

    Can anyone tell me if there's a place left on this planet that does NOT have Mobile Phones or Wi-Fi............YET?

    As i would seriously like to move there for some piece and quiet.

    mines the crinkly-Tin-Foil Space Suit.....

    illuminatus;p

  5. Chad H.
    Black Helicopters

    ROTM!?!

    why no ROTM flag? A global communications net built by a sinsoter sounding corporation? Skynet must be stopped!

  6. J. Cook Silver badge
    Coat

    I know the perfect name to NOT call it...

    Yeah, call it skynet would be a bit... ominous.

    Mine's the one with the ploymemetic alloy over ceramic plate armor.

  7. William Doohan
    Black Helicopters

    Mil-sats

    It's been my belief for many years that anything the US military or government tells people that they are 'researching' or 'looking into' they already have had for the last ten years or so. So, don your tinfoil hats everyone! That nanosat is going over your head....... NOW!

  8. TeeCee Gold badge
    Black Helicopters

    RE: Tin-foil hats.

    Sorry, it'll make no difference on information availability. The opressed masses are already perfectly capable of getting their messages out / news in right now as long as they can aquire and are prepared to run the risk of being caught with whatever moody kit is required to circumvent the restrictions in place.

    Yer "talks to anyone, anywhere" commodity satphone-alike is going to be top of the banned / party-officials-only list in yer average dictatorship / pariah state / revolutionary worker's paradise.

  9. SpitefulGOD
    Gates Halo

    Bull

    I read somewhere that these sats will come with full EMP protection; obviously the US government is concerned by the 2012 solar spikes that will fry the rest of our poor comm sats.

  10. Wize

    Offshore

    "Can anyone tell me if there's a place left on this planet that does NOT have Mobile Phones or Wi-Fi............YET?"

    Not been on an oilrig then? Bit out of range for those types of signals.

  11. Paul
    Black Helicopters

    @ J. Cook

    They couldn't use the name Skynet, 'cause there already is one.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skynet_%28satellites%29

    Uh-oh.

  12. Simon Rockman

    I hope they've done their sums right.

    What killed the previous systems (Globalstar, Iridium, ICO) was the expectation that people in the undeveloped world would pay $3 a minute for a phone call. This totally ignored the fact that most of these people didn't earn $3 a week.

    Now the value of voice, which is still 80% of the business is tending to almost free with fixed rate plans.

    Can you support the cost of a LEO network on $20 per subscriber per month?

    It will have to have h big ugly phones and antennas and they won'tt work indoors which is where nearly 90% of calls are made,

    I don't think so.

    Simon

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