SpaceX Starlink to offer speeds of up to one gigabit per second

SpaceX is now inching closer to its goal of providing broadband from space with its internet connectivity constellation, Starlink. The company is preparing for a beta test later this year before a wide rollout and has also updated its website on the big project.

Steve Jurvetson, SpaceX board director, recently posted a tweet stating that he has already tried the firm’s satellite internet service. Jurvetson actually went to the company's headquarters to establish a terminal that helped him connect to the overhead satellites. He also shared a picture of a device detecting five Starlink Wifi networks.

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Elon Musk, SpaceX founder and CEO, has revealed that the company requires close to 400 Starlink satellites to be able to offer minor coverage and 800 satellites for moderate coverage. The initial Starlink mega-constellation has been planned for a total of 12,000 satellites, which is still far from the end. In late May, The company recently applied to the Federal Communications Commission for deploying as many as 30,000 Starlink satellites.

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SpaceX Starlink has 540 satellites in space

The company's recent SpaceX launch took 58 Starlink broadband satellites into space which takes the Starlink constellation up to 540 satellites in the orbit to date. It is the biggest constellation in orbit.

The number is enough for the company to start inviting people to apply and become beta testers for its internet project. Users are simply requested to fill out a form with their email address and zip code that will provide them with all the latest updates on Starlink news and the service availability in their area. It also allows prospective customers to get all the updates and gain access to a public beta test of the Starlink service.

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SpaceX Starlink internet speed

As confirmed by the company, Starlink will be able to provide speeds of up to a gigabit per second with latencies ranging from 25 milliseconds to 35 milliseconds. Elon Musk has previously stated that it has been designed to run real-time, competitive video games.

HughesNet, which is known as the grandpa of satellite Internet, is the largest service of its kind and provides download speeds of up to 25Mbps and upload speeds of up to 3Mbps. SpaceX hasn't revealed any details on its upload speeds, however, it is expected to be far slower than the 1Gbps download speed that it promises.

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Image credits: Starlink