01 · The bet
Why LEO
GEO is one sat for a continent and 240 ms of light. LEO is the opposite: a short hop, a quieter radio, and many birds so someone is always above you.
In English
GEO hangs in one spot and is far. LEO is nearby: quieter radios, tiny ping, and a sat that vanishes over the horizon. If you want always-on from LEO, you need a flock.
- Try this
- Toggle LEO / MEO / GEO. Read RTT, path loss, and how many birds.
- Keep this
- LEO: short light, many sats. GEO: one sat, long light.
Lab · close, fast, many
GEO is one satellite for a continent, 240 ms of light, a loud radio. LEO is the opposite: dimmer path loss, a few milliseconds, and you need a flock because each bird races over the horizon.
- One-hop RTT
- 45.2 ms
- Path loss (12 GHz)
- 191 dB
- Birds for always-on
- ~40 per plane
ISS, Starlink, Earth observation
Free-space path loss grows 20 log(r). GEO is ~40 dB worse than 550 km LEO at the same frequency, which is why user terminals can be a pizza box instead of a driveway.
The “birds for always-on” count is a one-plane sketch. Real shells mix inclinations so mid-latitudes are not starved. That is Volume X’s flock lab.