Featured Image Source: Harald Murphy via Twitter
A SpaceX Starlink user from Western Australia shared via social media that they hooked a Starlink dish antenna on a Tesla electric vehicle to access the satellite internet network on the road. They tested how far from their service address could they access the internet, they were able to receive data within a 40-kilometer radius from their home address. The Starlink network is currently limited to a single service address where the satellites are scheduled to beam service to throughout the day. SpaceX does have plans to enable Starlink mobile service in 2022, according to the company’s founder Elon Musk. He recently said Starlink will achieve global maritime coverage before next year ends to enable sea-going vessels, airplanes, and mobile vehicles to access the Starlink satellite internet network.
The Western Australia Starlink user shared they received high-speed internet downloads of “200Mbps [megabits per second] from a SpaceX Starlink terminal mounted to a Tesla Model X while driving down the freeway at 100 kilometers per hour[...] Can’t wait for full Starlink roaming ability,” they wrote via Twitter. –“A lot of improvement still coming just from software updates to satellites & terminals,” Musk said in response to their post on December 21st.
A lot of improvement still coming just from software updates to satellites & terminals
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 21, 2021
Got a bit more #Starlink range data.
— Harald Murphy (@harald_murphy) December 21, 2021
Rock solid at up to about 30km from home with limit of coverage at about 40km from home. pic.twitter.com/JXZnjaPBio
To achieve global Starlink coverage and enable users to move their dish terminal outside a specific address, SpaceX is working to deploy thousands of next-generation Starlink satellites that are equipped with inter-satellite communication laser links. The laser feature enables satellites to transfer data to one another without receiving data directly from ground stations on Earth. “Inter-satellite laser communications means Starlink can carry data at speed of light in vacuum all around Earth before touching ground,” Musk explained last month, “Over time, some amount of communication can simply be from one user terminal to another without touching the Internet [ground stations/data centers],” he said. Unlike terrestrial internet where data travels through fiber-optic cables, Starlink satellites beam data directly to the customer’s dish antenna which enables a faster internet connection.
To date, SpaceX operates around 1,944 internet-beaming satellites in Low Earth Orbit, approximately 200 of those feature laser links. The constellation currently provides internet to around 140,000 customers living in rural/remote regions across 20 countries, including: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland, United States, and United Kingdom. Service could be available as soon as next year in Brazil and other portions of Latin America. Overall, the Starlink constellation will have at least 12,000 satellites that will be launched within the next seven years. For more information visit SpaceX's official website Starlink.com.
24 hours later and we now have V2.0 #Starlink terminal mobile bracket. The dish now sits lower in the car’s slipstream, is rock solid and the trunk can now be freely opened at any time. Will aim to test it across the #nullarbor early next month. pic.twitter.com/Hf3PXUCA2b
— Harald Murphy (@harald_murphy) December 22, 2021
Featured Image Source: Harald Murphy via Twitter
About the Author
Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo
Evelyn J. Arevalo joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover news as a Space Journalist and SpaceX Starbase Texas Correspondent. Evelyn is specialized in rocketry and space exploration. The main topics she covers are SpaceX and NASA.
