Elon Musk recently revealed that SpaceX's Starlink internet could finally be moving out of its beta testing really soon. Users could start using the official Starlink internet services as early as this summer! Elon Musk tweeted that the service uptime, the bandwidth, and even the latency are rapidly improving, noting that Starlink could be exiting its beta this summer.
Elon Musk SpaceX Starlink
The change would then mean that even more people could finally sign up for the satellite service that currently has well over 10,000 users. In another post, Elon Musk revealed that Starlink will also be going fully mobile in late 2021 so users can use the satellite internet service while in their RVs or trucks in motion.
Elon Musk clarified that Starlink still needs additional satellite launches to complete what they aim to achieve: complete coverage and even some key software upgrades. This news is actually not the first time that the company has proposed providing internet to moving vehicles.
SpaceX official filing
According to SpaceX's written filings to the United States FCC back in March, the company seeks the authority to be able to deploy and operate these particular earth stations as certain VMES throughout the United States and its particular territories. This includes the territorial waters of the United States and even throughout international waters. The filing also included seeking authority on US-registered aircraft operating worldwide as well as the non-US-registered aircraft that operate in US airspace.
Elon Musk clarified later on that this did not actually refer to the Tesla vehicles. The Tesla CEO noted that their terminal is way too big and for aircraft, large trucks, ships, and even RVs. As of the moment, there are over 1,000 Starlink satellites currently in low-Earth orbit all around the world, with different users in the US and the UK already signing up for the internet service's early access.
SpaceX Starlink vs. Amazon Project Kupiter
According to the story by Independent.co.uk, SpaceX currently plans to build a constellation all the way up to 40,000 satellites through the course of the next few years. Elon Musk also claimed that Starlink will be doubling in speed later this 2021 targeting 300Mbps and also aiming to drop the latency to 20ms.
He also added that the full coverage will most likely include most of Earth by the end of 2021 and all of Earth by next year. After this, Elon Musk noted that it will then be about densifying the coverage. However, with the current developments also comes certain concerns. As of the moment, Starlink's satellites already orbit the lower parts of Earth than many of the other crafts. Amazon's competing Project Kupiter also claims that allowing them to operate even lower would then interfere with the other satellites.
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Written by Urian Buenconsejo
