Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation
Also known as: LEO constellation, satellite mega-constellation, LEO satellite internet
A low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation is a large network of satellites orbiting a few hundred to about 2,000 kilometres above Earth, working together to provide services such as internet access.
Because they're much closer than traditional satellites, they offer far lower delay. SpaceX's Starlink is the best-known example, with roughly 10,000 working satellites by mid-2026. While LEO constellations have brought fast internet to remote places, they also crowd orbit, brighten the night sky for astronomers, and concentrate power in a few companies.
Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation, explained at three levels
At home
Imagine thousands of small satellites circling the Earth fairly close to the ground, passing internet signals between your home dish and the wider internet. Because there are so many, one is always overhead.
At work
LEO constellations offer businesses in remote areas, such as mines, farms, ships, and Indigenous communities, internet fast enough for video calls and cloud apps.
At home
Each satellite moves across the sky in a few minutes, so your dish constantly switches between them. Being close to Earth keeps the delay around tens of milliseconds, compared with about 600 milliseconds for traditional geostationary satellites.
At work
Constellations use phased-array user terminals that steer beams electronically, ground stations connecting to the internet, and increasingly laser links between satellites. Capacity is shared within each coverage cell, so performance depends on how many users are nearby.
At home
Satellites at low altitude feel slight atmospheric drag and fall back within a few years, burning up. In my opinion, that's both good, since dead satellites clear themselves, and worrying, since constant replacement means constant launches and re-entries.
At work
Strategic issues include spectrum coordination, orbital debris and collision avoidance, astronomy impacts, national security and sovereignty over critical connectivity, and dependence on a single provider. Governments, including Canada's, are weighing domestic alternatives and regulatory conditions for foreign-owned constellations.
Real-world examples
At home
Carlos lives on a farm in northern Saskatchewan where internet used to be painfully slow. After installing a LEO satellite dish, he could stream hockey games and work remotely on video calls.
At work
Lena is an IT manager for a mining company in Nunavut. Switching remote camps to LEO satellite internet let workers use cloud safety apps and video-chat with family, and cut costs compared with older satellite contracts.
How it compares
| feature | Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation | Geostationary orbit (GEO) |
|---|---|---|
| Altitude | About 300 to 2,000 km | About 35,786 km |
| Latency | Tens of milliseconds | About 600 ms round trip |
| Satellites needed | Hundreds to thousands | A few for wide coverage |
| Satellite lifespan | About 5 years | 15 years or more |
LEO is fast but needs many satellites. GEO covers more with fewer, at higher delay.
For analysts
For remote operations, LEO internet can transform what's possible, but it creates vendor concentration. I'd keep a backup connection and review service terms on capacity, outages, and pricing changes.
History & origin
Iridium launched a 66-satellite LEO constellation for satellite phones in 1998, and went bankrupt in 1999 before being revived. Teledesic, backed by Bill Gates in the 1990s, planned hundreds of internet satellites but never launched them. Cheaper launches and mass-produced satellites changed the economics in the 2010s. OneWeb launched its first satellites in 2019, and SpaceX began launching Starlink satellites that year, opening public service in 2020. SpaceX reported more than 10 million Starlink subscribers by March 2026. Amazon's Project Kuiper began launching production satellites in 2025, and Canada's Telesat is building its Lightspeed constellation. In my view, LEO internet is one of the most consequential changes for rural Canada in decades, and one of the least regulated.