SpaceX plans to fund missions to the moon and Mars by offering Starlink broadband internet service worldwide. The aerospace company aims to deploy over 12,000 internet-beaming satellites that will make up its internet network. As of today, SpaceX has launched 540 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. Company officials said 800 satellites will offer "moderate" internet coverage; 60 Starlink satellites can provide service to 40,000 customers streaming high-definition videos simultaneously. When SpaceX reaches 1,440 satellites in orbit, it will commence its commercial service, initiating with customers living in northern United States and Canada.
Customers will receive Starlink’s high-speed internet via user terminals that look like a ‘UFO on a stick’, pictured below. The network will be easy to set-up at home – “Starlink terminal has motors to self-orient for optimal view angle. No expert installer required. Just plug in & give it a clear view of the sky,” the founder of SpaceX Elon Musk says, “Can be in garden, on roof, table, pretty much anywhere, so long as it has a wide view of the sky.” The Starlink network is designed to run real-time, competitive video games – “We're targeting latency below 20 milliseconds (ms), so somebody could play a fast-response video game at a competitive level, like that's the threshold for the latency,” Musk said.
Source: SpaceX
On Thursday, Jonathan Hofeller SpaceX Vice-President of Starlink and Commercial Sales, revealed SpaceX is ready to start its private Starlink Beta testing phase with employees, friends, and family. Hofeller also shared he started testing the network at home –
“I have deployed one on my house, it’s very exciting to get one. The instructions are super-easy. You plug it in, and you point it at the sky, and a few seconds later you have internet. It’s truly remarkable.”
Today, July 26, an anonymous source shared a collection of photographs of the Starlink Router ‘UFO’ set being unboxed out of a SpaceX original packaging, images shown below. The box features the company's signature 'X' logo includes: a dish terminal, router, power supply cables, mounts, and a “Starlink Quick Start” user manual.
Earlier this month, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the operation of ‘Starlink Routers.’ The document only revealed a photograph of how the bottom of the device looks. Today we got a first look of how the Starlink Router looks in its full form! It is a unique geometric shape in color white, that looks like modern home décor. The device will act similar to a Wi-Fi connection router, the link between the outdoor terminal and the customer’s devices.
SpaceX Beta Tester’s “Starlink kit” includes:
Starlink ‘UFO on a stick’ Terminal
Starlink Router
Power Supply & Mounts
User Manual
“Starlink Beta is an opportunity to be an early user of the SpaceX's satellite internet system. The purpose of Starlink Beta is to gather feedback that will help us make decisions on how best to implement the system for Starlink's official launch,” the company states. “By design, the beta experience will be imperfect. Our goal is to incorporate feedback from a variety of users to ensure we build the best satellite broadband internet system possible.” The company also states that the “Starlink Beta program will be driven by the user's location as well as the number of users in nearby areas. All beta testers must have a clear view of the northern sky to participate.” Sign up to know when Starlink will be available in your city via SpaceX's website: Starlink.com
About the Author
Evelyn 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.
