SpaceX’s Starlink Targets To Achieve Worldwide Internet Access in 2021
Updated: Aug 20, 2021
Credit: SpaceX
The dream of having a stable internet connection anywhere in the world is now just a few steps closer to reality.
Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet constellation, is just 485 satellites away from achieving worldwide internet coverage.
60 new satellites will be added to the growing constellation on SpaceX’s seventeenth Starlink mission (and the first Starlink mission of 2021), according to SpaceX’s website.
SpaceX’s illustration of the deployment of Starlink Satellites. Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 first stage rocket booster will be adding the 60 satellites to the constellation on 18 January 2021 at 8:45 AM EST. Should the launch be a success, it will put the number of satellites needed to complete the constellation down to 425.
SpaceX has scheduled future launches that will add 60 satellites to the constellation every two or three weeks, Space.com reported.
The Starlink satellite internet constellation is a collection of low-orbit satellites designed to provide high-speed broadband internet to anywhere on the globe. SpaceX has targeted the Starlink constellation especially for locations where access to high-speed broadband internet is unreliable, expensive, or completely unavailable.
A picture of Starlink’s phase-array dish and Wi-Fi router. Credit: Reddit/ u/Tesmanian
Ofcom, the United Kingdom’s communications regulator, has given the green light to use Starlink’s internet service in a beta test at the start of 2021. According to Business Insider, a local who has received his beta kit (router and terminal) has reported to be experiencing download speeds of 85Mbps.
The US has also taken the beta test of Starlink’s internet services. Some testers reported to have reached 215 Mbps download speeds – that is 65Mbps higher than what Elon Musk, CEO and president of SpaceX, informed beta testers via email last 26 October 2020.
Starlink is looking to achieve worldwide coverage within 2021.
You can watch the Falcon 9’s launch into space to deliver the 60 Starlink satellites into low-orbit live here.
Written by John Paul Joaquin