A high bandwidth dynamically directed laser-based mesh network of 12k-42k tiny satellites 340 km above the earth is a pretty ballsy concept to begin with.

I'm curious about who came up with this idea. It's kind of brilliant.

It follows pretty logically from any kind of work in the wireless business. There’s a very direct correlation between transmitter altitude, and how likely it is that the transmitter will be able to connect to any given client. It follows that the best transmitter is one that is in space, which is why communications were one of the first commercial uses of satellites.

That's a way too simplified view that doesn't take latency into consideration. Or even the concept of a network.

Arthur C. Clarke, in a way.

http://lakdiva.org/clarke/1945ww/

Sure, we owe Clarke a great deal of gratitude for that (the concept of the geostationary satellite 35k km from earth, from way back in 1945!), but this is something else and new.