What are the technical reasons that prevent optical-fiber like broadband-internet bandwidths being directly beamed from satellites to home?

Question

I was looking for the kind of internet speeds that are possible via satellites. GEO satellites tend to have very high latency and LEO constellations like Iridium and Globalstar have lower latencies but their throughput is lesser than ground-based broadband internet. What are the technical reasons that make broadband internet user-speeds difficult to achieve via satellites?

In: Technology

Answer 1

Simplest Answer: They are very far up. Geostationary orbit is 22,236 mi. LEO is not as bad, but are much smaller in number and have higher fuel requirements.

Also consider that upgrading/replacing/repairing the hardware requires launching a new satellite. Not exactly like changing a device in a rack or utility shed.