- Starlink is SpaceX’s broadband service that broadcasts the Internet from satellites launched into orbit.
- Since its launch in October, it has more than 10,000 users and operates in more than six countries.
- Here’s everything you need to know about Starlink from Elon Musk.
- Visit Insider’s Business section for more stories.
Elon Musk is getting closer to making his dream come true: to create superfast internet around the world, beaming down from satellites in orbit around the Earth.
In the past two weeks, SpaceX’s Starlink Internet has reached more than 10,000 users around the world and has begun offering $ 99 pre-orders for the service to more countries and cities worldwide.
Starlink’s public beta test, known as “Better Than Nothing Beta,” launched in October and was a big hit with people living in remote areas of the northern US where it was first rolled out.
What’s the hype about Starlink?
SpaceX is building an extensive satellite internet network in space called Starlink.
The aerospace company launched its first batch of Starlink satellites into orbit in May 2019. Now it has readied more than 1,000 working satellites for service. The goal is to have up to 42,000 satellites in orbit by mid-2027.
The satellites will be attached to the top of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and sent into orbit, usually releasing 60 satellites per launch.
The goal is to create a high-speed broadband system generated by satellites that envelop the Earth and provide the Internet to people, especially in rural areas without a connection.
Spectators watch from Canaveral National Seashore as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with 60 Starlink satellites is launched.
Paul Hennessy / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Starlink is not cheap
A subscription to the beta currently costs $ 99 per month. It costs another $ 499 for the Starlink kit, which includes a mounting tripod, a Wi-Fi router, and a terminal to connect to the satellites.
On Monday, the company began offering Starlink pre-orders to other countries, so users can now make a deposit of $ 100 to get their hands on the service as soon as it becomes available. The deposit will be applied to the amount due on the Starlink kit.
Generally, users pay $ 600 up front for Starlink.
Users in the UK pay £ 439 for the kit and £ 89 for the subscription fee. Compared to other ISPs that charge £ 79 a month for speeds of up to 516Mbps, this doesn’t come cheap.
On the SpaceX side, the company won $ 885 million in federal grants in December to expand Starlink, but small ISPs say it shouldn’t be allowed because Musk’s company uses “unproven” technology.
A photo of SpaceX’s Starlink user terminal, or satellite dish, installed on a roof. Company founder Elon Musk has dubbed such devices “UFOs on a stick,” and they are designed to connect to the Internet through a fleet of spacecraft orbiting Earth.
Ashish Sharma / SpaceX
The fastest speed recorded so far is 215 Mbps
SpaceX said in an email to Starlink beta-test subscribers in October that they should expect speeds between 50 and 150 Mbps, with intermittent outages. But some users achieve much faster speeds.
A list compiled by Reddit’s Starlink community shows that the fastest download speed to date was 209.17 Mbps recorded in New York. A person in Utah recorded a speed test of 215 Mbps in December.
Starlink has even reached speeds of 175 Mbps in freezing temperatures, high winds and snow. Users are impressed that the terminal heats up enough to melt any snow or frost on it.
Snow is melting at Starlink terminal.
Anonymous
It is available to book in six countries
Starlink was initially active in parts of the north of the US, the south of Canada and, most recently, in the UK.
On Monday, Starlink began opening up preorders to other parts of the world.
People in Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and parts of the US and Canada – where Starlink is not yet operating – confirmed on Twitter and Reddit that they could make a down payment in mid to late 2021 to get the internet service.
Read more: This is how many millions of users Starlink takes to break even if experts say it loses $ 2,000 for every satellite dish it sells
According to a report by Teslarati, more countries could give the green light to Starlink this year, including Spain, Italy, India, Japan and the Caribbean.
Insider explained on Tuesday how to sign up for the service which operates on a first-come, first-served basis.
A photo illustration of a satellite tracking app showing one of SpaceX’s Starlink internet-radiating spacecraft on a map of the Earth.
Pavlo Gonchar / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images
Starlink has helped rural communities get online
SpaceX agreed in October to deliver to a Texas school district via Starlink the next year. A total of 45 families will have Internet access in the area, followed later by another 90 families.
Scott Muri, the district’s superintendent, told Insider that he agreed to the deal because so many student families have “no internet” and no conventional way to get it.
In December, SpaceX connected Pikangikum First Nation, a remote indigenous community of 3,000 residents in northwestern Ontario, with Starlink. Before the internet service, Pikangikum could not provide higher education or health care, and struggled with high suicide rates. Now they have access to everything.
Dave Brown, CEO of FSET, the company that linked SpaceX and Pikangikum, said in an interview with Insider, “We took a community that was one of the most technologically disadvantaged in the world. They are now one of the most technologically advanced, yet remote, live where they are and don’t have to move. ”
Have you recently set up Starlink? How do you like it? Contact this reporter via email: [email protected].