Beyond providing clean and reliable power, our Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) bring a variety of other valuable benefits to their host communities. One that we are especially excited to offer is free bandwidth for satellite transmissions.
Remote Monitoring
We designed our SMRs for the most far flung locations, where electricity costs the most and communication often comes at a premium. In addition to having an on-site crew, we also monitor our facilities remotely to ensure everything runs normally and safely.
To do this, we need a secure and robust way to transmit information about temperature, pressure, power output, and more. Traditional infrastructure, like fiber-optic cables or cell towers, may be prohibitively expensive to install or can be vulnerable to inclement weather.
In order to meet the demands of any site, every StarCore SMR will be connected to both geostationary and low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.
Geostationary satellites, positioned high above the earth, provide an ideal platform for continuous data streams. This allows our central monitoring facility to keep a constant eye on the SMR’s routine operations.
Orbiting much closer to the planet, LEO satellites have a much shorter delay in data transmission. This ensures that we can quickly identify and resolve any critical alerts about facility security or abnormal operations. Incorporating these two types of satellites also provides valuable redundancy, ensuring our facilities can always communicate.
Repurposing Excess Bandwidth
While our SMRs will send a near-constant stream of operational data, the actual amount of encrypted data is very, very small. The minimal bandwidth needed for reactor operations leaves nearly all of our satellite capacity available for other uses.
We are delighted to offer this unused bandwidth at no cost to the communities hosting our SMRs. We will work with local leadership to identify how to apply this with the greatest impact. This could be used for critical services that are currently lacking, such as telemedicine for remote healthcare, or remote education to improve learning opportunities.
By bringing both clean energy and new communication possibilities, our SMRs can help build a more connected and prosperous future for everyone.
