What is Starlink? All you need to know about Elon Musk's Internet service

Starlink could be the internet solution for rural household families as they severely need it. But what is Starlink and how does Starlink work?

In 2020, the federal government awarded Elon Musk’s spaceflight company SpaceX $ 885.5 million to launch Starlink, a satellite company. The aim of this financial award was to create a faster and more trustworthy Internet service option for rural households.

Although fiber-optic Internet service will continue to be faster than Starlink Internet service, Starlink is an ideal solution for rural areas that currently lack access to broadband service because their service can be deployed at a much faster rate. fast, for a volume of people significantly greater than that of fiber. Internet.

How is Starlink satellite is different from other satellite Internet companies?

Even though satellite Internet already exists, Starlink is a new class of satellite technology that uses low-orbit satellites. Since Starlink’s satellites are low-orbit, their latency is much lower than that of major satellite companies such as HughesNet and Viasat. Due to Starlink’s lower latency, millions of rural households will soon be able to play online in real time and work and learn remotely for the first time.

When will Starlink be available to the public?

Starlink is now in a beta phase where it is only available to the Northwest US, abbuting parts of Canada, some regions of the UK, and other select areas. There are currently 10,000 people using Starlink Internet in the United States and other countries. Starlink internet service is available on a first-come, first-served basis and requires a $ 99 deposit. Elon Musk recently communicates with customers and he said that he believes Starlink will be available worldwide by 2022.

Starlink’s service will become more available as SpaceX launches more satellites into orbit. Starlink currently has around 1,000 satellites in orbit and will need to launch at least 10,000 satellites in total before the company can serve most of the world. SpaceX has indicated that it may want to launch up to 30,000 satellites on its network.

What speeds can you expect from Starlink and how much will it cost you?

Starlink is currently available at $99/mo. for 50 to 150 Mbps. Nevertheless, Musk recently tweeted that he admits speeds will double to 300 Mbps and latency will be cut to 20 ms approaching the end of 2021. Latency now ranges between 40 to 60 ms. This is amazingly low when you compare latency to other internet providers, which reaches 600 ms and higher

Starlink is now offering its service with unlimited data; nonetheless, the company has not guaranteed it will keep its unlimited data plan in the future. In addition to the $99/mo. service charge, buyers have to pay $499 in equipment costs.

What is Starlink? What are the downsides of Starlink?

Cost: Although Starlink holds great promise as a reliable broadband option for rural households, satellite Internet still has its downsides. The biggest drawback is the cost of Starlink. At $ 99 / month for Internet service, Starlink is anything but cheap. However, this price is still much more affordable than what other satellite companies charge for their higher-tier plans.

Weather disruptions: Another downside to Starlink is that it will likely be as affected by bad weather as other satellite companies. Although weather-related outages will be somewhat unavoidable, especially if you live in an area with heavy snowstorms, your Starlink will be able to detect and melt snow that falls directly on it.

It is better to install Starlink in such a location where it would be safe from snow accumulation, heavy rainfall and sand storm, which could lead to slower speeds or a rare outage.

Starlink timeline

January 2015: Starlink is founded. Despite the fact Starlink did not evolve into a satellite internet company until 2020, SpaceX had already started a growing network of orbital satellites, known as Starlink, in 2015.
February 22, 2018: SpaceX launches its first prototype satellite into orbit.
May 23, 2019: Starlink launches its first 60 satellites into orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida (Starlink1).
November 11, 2019: Falcon 9 launched the next 60 Starlink satellites (Starlink 2).
January 6, 2020: Starlink sends 60 more satellites into orbit (Starlink 3)
January 29, 2020: Starlink 4 (60 satellites)
February 17, 2020: Starlink 5 (60 satellites)
March 18, 2020: Starlink 6 (60 satellites)
April 22, 2020: Starlink 7 (60 satellites)
June 3, 2020: Starlink 8 (60 satellites)
June 13, 2020: Starlink 9 (58 satellites)
August 7, 2020: Starlink 10 (57 satellites)
August 18, 2020: Starlink 11 (58 satellites)
September 3, 2020: Starlink 12 (60 satellites)
October 6, 2020: Starlink 13 (60 satellites)
October 18, 2020: Starlink 14 (60 satellites)
October 24, 2020: Starlink 15 (60 satellites)
November 24, 2020: Starlink 16 (60 satellites)
January 20, 2021: Starlink 17 (60 satellites)
January 24, 2021: SpaceX launches 143 satellites into space, 10 of which are Starlink satellites. This shared trip of satellites on a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket was known as Transporter-1.
February 4, 2021: Starlink 18 (60 satellites)
February 15, 2021: Starlink 19 (60 satellites)
March 4, 2021: Starlink 20 (60 satellites)
March 9, 2021: Starlink 21 (60 satellites)