How does the Starlink terminal specifically utilize phased array antenna technology?

Alright, let's talk about that small white flat antenna used by Starlink and how it manages to continuously point at satellites in the sky without physically moving. The core technology behind this is the phased array antenna.

To help you fully understand, we'll use a few analogies instead of complex formulas and jargon.

Traditional "Dish" Antenna vs. Starlink "Flat Panel" Antenna

You've probably seen those "big satellite dishes" (technically called parabolic antennas) installed on rooftops in the past.

Working Principle: It acts like a "concave mirror" for collecting signals. Satellite signals come down from the sky, are reflected by the dish's curved surface, and then focused onto the "LNB" (Low-Noise Block downconverter) in front of the dish. To aim at a satellite, the entire dish must be physically moved by motors to precisely point in the satellite's direction.
Disadvantages: Bulky, prone to mechanical failure due to moving parts, and slow to re-aim. If you tried to use it to track a fast-moving target, it simply couldn't keep up.

In contrast, the Starlink antenna is a flat panel, and it doesn't need to move at all.

Working Principle: It's not one "big antenna," but rather an array of hundreds or thousands of tiny "mini-antennas." It relies on "phased array" technology to control these small antennas via software, enabling the signal to be "steered."

Core: What is "Phased Array"?

Imagine you're in a stadium with hundreds of friends, and you want your collective shouts to travel the furthest in just one specific direction.

Method One (The Clumsy Way): All of you simultaneously turn to face one direction, then shout together. This is analogous to a traditional mechanically steered antenna.
Method Two (The Smart Way): All of you stand in a line, facing forward without moving. However, through precise calculation, the person on the far right shouts first, then the person next to them shouts 0.01 seconds later, and the next person shouts another 0.01 seconds later... and so on, with sequential delays. Even though no one moves, your combined sound wave's main lobe will magically "bend," propagating furthest in a diagonal direction.

This "delay" in radio is called "Phase." By precisely controlling the phase difference of the signal emitted by each small antenna via software, the combined electromagnetic beam can be directed in any direction. This process is called Beamforming.

Here's how Starlink's flat antenna does it:

Hundreds or Thousands of Small Antennas: The flat panel integrates a large number of tiny antenna elements.
Software-Controlled Phase: The antenna's chip calculates the precise position of the satellite in the sky, then assigns a specific "phase delay" to each small antenna element.
Electronic Scanning: By continuously changing these phases within milliseconds, the antenna can "scan" the sky electronically, allowing the signal beam to flexibly point in any direction like a spotlight, while the antenna itself remains stationary.

Why Starlink Must Use This Technology?

This is entirely dictated by the characteristics of Starlink satellites.

Satellites are Moving at High Speed: Starlink satellites are in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), only about 550 kilometers from the ground, completing an orbit around Earth in just over 90 minutes. From the ground, they appear to move rapidly across the sky like airplanes. Traditional mechanical antennas simply cannot track them fast enough.
Requires Seamless Handover: When a satellite overhead is about to move out of range, your terminal must instantly switch to another satellite that has just risen above the horizon. This handover process must be "make-before-break" (connect to the new satellite before disconnecting from the old one), otherwise, the network connection will drop.

Phased array antennas perfectly solve these two problems:

Fast Tracking: Electronic scanning occurs at near light speed, tracking fast-moving satellites with no difficulty.
Instant Handover: It can instantly steer the beam from satellite A to satellite B, and can even briefly communicate with two satellites simultaneously to ensure absolute stability of the network connection during the handover.

In Summary

So, here's how the Starlink terminal specifically utilizes phased array technology:

It replaces the traditional large satellite dish with a flat panel composed of hundreds of small antennas.
Instead of mechanical rotation, it precisely controls the "time difference" (phase) of the signal emitted by each small antenna via software.
This method synthesizes a narrow beam whose direction can be electronically controlled, acting like an invisible spotlight that precisely points to fast-moving satellites in the sky.
When a satellite flies overhead, it can instantly "swing" the beam at millisecond speeds to switch to the next satellite, ensuring continuous network connectivity.

In simple terms, it uses extremely clever software algorithms and electronic control to replace bulky mechanical rotation, making it possible to stably receive signals from fast-moving Low Earth Orbit satellites on the ground.