According to the latest reports, according to the latest information disclosed, SpaceX’s Starlink satellite Internet service currently has about 90,000 users, but this is only a small part of the candidate list.
Starlink was launched in mid-2019. It uses an increasing number of low-Earth orbit satellites and a self-directional antenna on the ground to send Internet connections, but Starlink’s acceleration of increasing users is only recent.
This is to a large extent to manage the load on the service because the constellation deployment has not yet been completed. Currently, SpaceX has deployed more than 1,700 satellites, but the company said it plans to substantially increase this number in the next few years.
After testing among invited users, the Starlink beta will be officially opened in early 2021. For $99 per month plus an initial equipment dish, a modem and a wireless router, and two necessary wiring connections for both users can get unlimited broadband, but there are warnings that because of the location and the nature of the satellite network, users may Will encounter network exits and failures.
By the beginning of February 2021, Starlink had more than 10,000 users. As of the end of June, this number has risen sharply, reaching what SpaceX CEO Elon Musk called the number of strategically significant active users-69,420. Now, in a call with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on July 29, SpaceX has updated this number.
SpaceX said that there are currently approximately 90,000 Starlink users worldwide. The service is very active in more than a dozen countries. This sign shows that Musk’s willingness to significantly accelerate registration is being realized.
SpaceX also added that Starlink has more than 500,000 orders and deposits worldwide. Potential users can sign up for the service before the system is available in their area, but the company warns that they may not actually get online until 2022.
Nevertheless, comparing Starlink’s data rate with the data rate of existing Internet providers is enough to get people excited. This is not only on the ground, SpaceX is also exploring the use of Starlink to provide Internet connectivity for flight WiFi through cooperation with airlines.
To achieve all this requires not only the new Starlink antenna hardware that Musk recently described – SpaceX hopes that this hardware will be cheaper to produce – but also a new generation of satellites. This will reduce delays, but each launch will also require the deployment of more rockets and the use of larger SpaceX Starship rockets. The current “Falcon 9” can put 60 satellites into orbit at one time, and Starlink can increase this number to 400.
