Elon Musk announced it through a series of tweets (of couse) that SpaceX has sent 100,000 terminals for its Starlink satellite Internet service to 14 countries, with the goal of “serving the Earth soon.” This implies that you have the service gained 10,000 additional users in less than a month, and the fully global service hasn’t even been implemented.
The goal of Starlink is offer high-speed Internet in rural areas, where broadband is extremely difficult to achieve. It differs from other satellite internet providers in that its strategy is to launch thousands of low-orbit satellites. SpaceX has currently deployed approximately 1,800 satellites, with the final target of 42,000 of these things floating around Earth in mid-2027. The advantage of these low-orbit satellites is that they have lower latency, making Starlink a viable alternative to 5G and fiber in remote areas.
The mentioned terminals are part of the $ 499 starter kit, which is separate from the $ 99 monthly fee and also includes a stand, power supply, and a wifi router. While the initial speed tests showed inconsistent results, showed a more recent test of Ookla promising improvements with speeds approaching what is obtained fixed broadband.
While we don’t know the exact numbers, it looks like Starlink is growing at a steady pace. In October, SpaceX opened its public beta program, and in May, the company said it had already done so has received more than 500,000 orders. Musk also said earlier this summer that he hopes to arrive 500,000 active users by mid-2022. In accordance with Business Insider, Starlink had approximately 10,000 users in February of this year. CNBC also noted that this number had shot up to 90,000 at the end of July, with 20,000 subscribers arriving in the last month prior to the reports. This emerged from a SpaceX call with the Federal Communications Commission on July 29, which appears to suggest that Starlink added 10,000 more active users in about three weeks.
Although Starlink provides a much needed product service in remote areas, is not without problems. Satellites have caused headaches for astronomers, as they inadvertently photobomb long-exposure space photographs due to their reflective surfaces. Although SpaceX has done so advanced with a newer anti-reflective coating, astronomers say is not enough.
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