OneWeb, previously known as WorldVu Satellites Ltd is a global communications company building a capability to deliver broadband satellite internet services to a geographically global demographic. Greg Wyler founded the company in 2012. In 2020, the company entered bankruptcy after failing to raise the requisite capital to complete the build and deployment of the remaining 90% of the network. The company laid off approximately 85% of its approximately 500 employees but retained the capability to control its operational satellites during the period of court protection. The company recently came into news as it was revived under the joint ownership of the UK government and Bharti Global.

Recent Developments in OneWeb

After the revival, the company will proceed with its satellite constellation plan.  OneWeb has recently gained a lot of funding. According to the ExecutiveBiz, OneWeb has now raised $1.4B in total funding after it received additional investments from Hughes Network Systems and SoftBank Group. This funding will enable OneWeb to realise their plan of having a constellation consisting of 648 satellites in low Earth orbit by 2022. The main aim behind this is that it will enable broadband connectivity and low-latency communication services to people all around the globe. Despite gaining a significant amount of funding, they are still only halfway through. This is probably why the company has decided to cut back on the number of constellations. But the company insists that despite the drop in numbers, the constellation architecture will remain the same.

“This solidification of OneWeb’s constellation demonstrates the commitment and vision of OneWeb’s new owners, the UK Government and Bharti Global who are dedicated to deploying a cost-effective, responsible, and groundbreaking satellite network to deliver global broadband.

OneWeb remains focused on launching its first-generation system of 648 satellites and is on track to start regional commercial services within a year. Today’s streamlining activities highlight OneWeb’s plan for global connectivity services and for future generations and possibilities for the network.”

Aim of OneWeb

The main aim of OneWeb is to “deliver broadband connectivity worldwide to bridge the global Digital Divide by offering everyone, everywhere access including to the Internet of Things (IoT) future and a pathway to 5G”.

By mid-2022, OneWeb plans to launch high-speed internet in India as well. Mittal, the owner, stated that “For rural broadband, I would say Africa, India and less developed countries will benefit from OneWeb’s satellite network. They will have the biggest benefit. For critical applications such as defence, the ministry of defence in the UK is already engaging with us because they need connectivity in very remote areas”. The satellite network will prove advantageous for the 5G network as it will penetrate even the areas fibre and radio waves could not reach. 

Starlink

Just like OneWeb, Starlink is another satellite internet constellation. It is being constructed by Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. The constellation will consist of thousands of mass-produced small satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), working in combination with ground transceivers. SpaceX plans to sell some of the satellites for military, scientific, or exploratory purposes. The estimated cost of this project is US$10 billion. The company has already launched 1000 satellites and people are eager to enjoy the high-speed internet.

Recent Developments in Starlink

Starlink has launched a number of satellites, and there are now roughly 960 functioning satellites in orbit, heralding an age of mega-constellations that have prompted worries about visual pollution for astronomers. But SpaceX claims that the compact architectural design of Starlink satellites and the company following all the regulatory and industry standards will enable them to keep the space clean. SpaceX has permission from regulators to launch up to 12,000 satellites and has been planning to send up 42 batches of 60 satellites in a year, to add to its commercial constellation. Right at the beginning of this year, SpaceX launched the 17th batch, consisting of 60 Starlink Satellites using a Falcon 9 rocket. They plan to launch many more to reach their goal soon. Starlink has constantly been testing their satellite internet connection. On 4 November 2020, SpaceX conducted its one-millionth Starlink test and doubled the connection speed. Starlink beta testers have been reporting speeds over 150 megabits per second, above the range announced for the public beta test.

Aim of Starlink

SpaceX intends to provide satellite internet connectivity to underserved areas of the planet, as well as provide competitively priced service to urban areas. According to ElectronicsWeekly, “The goal (of SpaceX) is to build a high-speed global satellite internet service, for which Elon Musk’s company is in competition with the likes of Amazon and OneWeb. With download speeds of up to 50MBps, the aim is to support gaming-level Internet access.”  SpaceX claims that “During the beta, users can expect to see data speeds vary from 50Mb/s to 150Mb/s and latency from 20ms to 40ms in most locations over the next several months as we enhance the Starlink system.”

Apart from the goal of high-speed internet, SpaceX also plans to develop a similar satellite communication for Mars.

Conclusion

With the upcoming OneWeb and Starlink satellite constellations, we surely are headed towards a new era. These projects will revolutionize the world of telecommunications. High-speed satellite internet, in even the remotest corners of the world, is a dream that will be realized soon. With consistent launches, Starlink is making huge leaps towards its goal. Needless to say, it has the capability to provide a tough competition to the OneWeb satellite constellation. With OneWeb scaling back its number of satellites, Starlink has an upper hand as they show no sign of slowing down.

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Hyperloop is a link between a train and an airplane because its shape resembles a train while its projected speed is similar to that of an aeroplane. It is the most recent approach in the field of passenger and goods transportation proposed by the CEO and owner of Space X, Elon Musk.

Explaination and Detailed Study

The concept of Hyperloop consists of a sealed tube or connection of tubes with low air pressure in which a pod can travel in the absence of friction and air resistance. This was proposed by Elon Musk in 2012. His initial research and planning constituted reduced-pressure tubes in which pressurized capsules travel in air bearings driven by a linear induction motor and axial compressors. This project was open-sourced for individuals and other private ventures. Currently, the Mumbair-Pune corridor is officially researching this concept.  

Theory based on Hyperloop

Hyperloop concept relies largely on the reduction of friction and air resistance which implies that one needs to create a vacuum inside the sealed tube so that fast propagation would take place, but we also know creating a complete vacuum inside a free space is nearly impossible. Hyperloop is a vactrain system with a pressure of 100 pascals.

For the propagation, the shape and size of the pod matters a lot and especially if we are moving inside a tunnel-like tube. According to the original concept put forward by Elon Musk the capsule or pods will float (0.5-1.3 mm) layer of air beneath it.

The pressure to “skis”. Another hyperloop technology involves Maglev. Maglev is a system of train transportation using two sets of magnets. One to push the train off the track and another to pull it forward.

The linear induction motors located along the tube would accelerate and decelerate the capsule to the required speed and this will vary for each section of the tube route. In the earlier hyperloop concept conceptualised by Elon Musk an electric driven fan or inlet fan is attached in front of capsule like the axial compressor in older aeroplanes.

Talking about the shape, the proposed design of the hyperloop is 7ft 4 inches in diameter, and the projected speed of the same is 1220km/hr, maintaining aero-dynamic efficiency, which is much greater than a passanger aeroplane which moves with the highest speed of 930 km/hr.

Constructional Research on Capsules

Hyperloop is built by a new type of carbon fibre composite which is eight times stronger than aluminium and ten times than steel accessories. It is also much less in weight about 1.5 times less heavy than aluminium, this composite is named as “Vibranium” based on the 2018 hollywood movie Black Panther.

The pods will be prepared using two layers of Vibranium one for the inside and other for the outside layers of hyperloop capsule.

Fuel based Research on Hyperloop

Hyperloop is better than air passenger transport and high-speed rails because it rarely produces any noise and is environmental-friendly. No green house gases are released in this process making it a better and more sustainable mode of transport.

The modern-day hyperloops are electric, they are similar to electric cars. With hyperloop, we eliminate sources, like wheels on a track, and we actually have a sound barrier inherent in our tube design. There is no chance of noise and air pollution and thus there are no health adversities.

Cost Estimation and Expenses of Hyperloop

The constructional cost by Hyperloop one was estimated to be somewhere between 19 to 20 billion Euros or 22 billion USD according to 2016, there might be variation in prices today. Also, there will be a variation in expenses as hyperloop will be more expensive than aeroplane, all because of creation of vacuum needs large and expensive machines and the carbon synthesis material is hard to prepare.

Technologies Associated to Hyperloop

There are many technologies associated to hyperloop and works similarly, which includes Swiss Metro, SG Maglev; that has devised a train in Japan which does not need vacuum tubes and run with the speed of 630 km/hr, which is also the fastest train in the world and it is designed using aerodynamic shape. The major challenge in the success of hyperloop is the already running trains with such a high speed. Though Hyperloop is in its development phase, we can witness its speed which is estimated using a partial vacuum model as creating a complete vacuum is a myth until someone makes it possible.

 In 2015 Space-X announced its competition, in which more than 700 teams participated in the event and showcased their innovation of pod designs, material and most importantly safety implications which are still not resolved, because of which many people criticize this very idea of Hyperloop.

Another event took place which also acted as a competition of speed and Technical University of Munich won the contest with a speed of 324-330 km/hr.

But in the third competition which took place in 2018 with proper safety precautions, the Technical University of Munich recreated a record by beating their previous record, this time the highest attained speed was 463 km/hr.

But still problem remained the same Hyperloop is much behind the Shanghai Maglev or SG Maglev.

Countries Initiating Hyperloop Projects

Countries have deep interests in developing this project. Major initiatives have been taken by major superpowers like the USA where this project was first started. Many institutes and private companies are researching on this project in order to finish this project and accomplish the assigned speed of 1220 km/hr, countries like China are researching for trains similar to hyperloop.

While Japan is searching for faster maglev trains using the same technology. Hyperloop project is also attaining speed in Dubai and India.

Hyperloop Transporting Technology will start its human trials in 2020 by completing its pod or capsule development. For now, only a few people can travel using this technology.

India’s Approach and Projects on Hyperloop

India is the only country that is officially pertaining to hyperloop technology for Mumbai-Pune corridors. The Hyperloop project will be based on the ‘Swiss Challenge Method’. This project will be done in association with Virgin Hyperloop One.

Amongst many grounded projects Amaravati via Vijayawada is also one of them it was proposed by Government of Andhra Pradesh and it was done in association with HTT USA.

 The US based company did all the surveys and planned for appropriate capsules and the 700 km was setup by which this loop line could have connected Anantapur, Vijayawada, Amravati, Vizag but all this changed and project stopped after the election and ruling party changed.

Delhi via Mumbai connecting Jaipur and Indore is also amongst the incomplete projects due to lack of interest by the government because of the other ongoing issues. This project was set forward by DGW Hyperloop, Indore. This loop is 1317 km long, and it claims to cover the distance between Mumbai and Delhi in just 80 mins that’s hard to believe but it is true as the company had already done all its trials.

Amritsar via Chandigarh connecting Ludhiana was proposed in August 2019 and is in progress, this project was sanctioned at the cost of Rs 56,000 crore. This project is stopped due to nationwide lockdown. Virgin Hyperloop One which is the most recent HT claims that distance between two cities can be summarised from 5 hours to mere 30 min. This loop was decided to be 232km in length.

Amongst all these projects the best project is Mumbai to Pune project Virgin Hyperloop One was all set with its planning and Devendra Fradnavis then C.M. of Maharashtra initiated this project and this project was assigned to Pune Metropolitan Development Authority, this was made with an initiative to reduce time of travelling from 3 hours to 20 mins. This project was successful as Virgin Hyperloop and DP World together invested $ 500 million, but all this changed when the Devendra Fadnavis government was replaced with the present coalition government led by Uddhav Thackrey.

Why Hyperloop and Future of Pods and Tubes

Hyperloop is better than any other land or track transport because it essentially does not release any harmful gases or chemicals into the environment and by adding little more speed it can become the fastest means of transportation. It may be more expensive than air transport but is safer because there is a specified area designed for its propagation while aeroplane and helicopter are riskier as they fly freely in the open air.

The future of pods indicates to redesigning of the pods so that the desired speed could be attained and tubes need to be aligned at the fixed angle so that there is no chance of accidents.

The hardest and the most dreadful task is to create vacuum so that high speed propagation of capsules can be done, which needs to be rectified.

We will surely witness the advancement in this field in the near future as no one could assure the confirm completion of this project which is seemingly futuristic.

Conclusion

Speed enhancement is the major factor in development of HLTT.

The speed of Hyperloop is increasing slowly and gradually and the breakthrough in the same could be achieved if we are able to achieve the vacuum state where there is no air, but it also poses risk of alignment and directions because slight variation in the same could lead to accidents although magnet protects them from getting out of their way and thus they remain over the track.

In an augmented form development of the hyperloop, it seems like a difficult task, but it is not impossible at the same time.

In short, this development is a revolutionary approach and will add greater value to our present day transportation facilities.

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