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Continuous global coverage from low Earth orbit begins as a geometry problem.
Each satellite at low altitude casts a small footprint on the surface below, which means a constellation needs enough nodes in enough orbital planes to keep at least one overhead for any subscriber at any time.
Amazon has filed to launch more than 5,000 satellites to deliver global consumer mobile services, putting the company in direct competition with Elon Musk's Starlink.
The satellite count as coverage floor At low orbital altitudes, where round-trip latency can approach terrestrial broadband performance, the tradeoff is density.
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