“Finally, within each 15-second satellite tracking interval, the latency variation is relatively high.”
Starlink hands each user to a new satellite every 15 seconds, and latency jumps 30 to 50 ms at each switch. Packet loss runs a little over 1%, mostly unrelated to congestion. CUBIC averaged 45 Mbps at peak on a path with about 250 Mbps of capacity, while BBR did far better. The dish is fast, and TCP’s assumptions slow it down.