How does LEO proximity affect signal latency compared to GEO, specifically regarding interactive applications?
LEO latency drops significantly to 20 to 40 milliseconds, enabling interactive tasks.
The profound difference in path length between the two orbits directly impacts latency, which is the measure of time delay in data transmission. GEO signals must cover a round trip of almost 72,000 kilometers, resulting in inherent latency values typically ranging between 500 to 600 milliseconds. This high delay renders applications requiring near-instantaneous feedback, such as high-speed financial trading or responsive online gaming, frustrating or unusable on GEO links alone. LEO satellites, operating much closer, reduce this round-trip time drastically, achieving latencies between 20 and 40 milliseconds. This low latency shifts the user experience to feel comparable to terrestrial broadband connections, making LEO the preferred architecture for latency-sensitive services.
