You Can Now Use The Internet Supplied From Space With Elon Musk's Starlink

SpaceX is expanding the Starlink beta phase, a fleet of satellites that supplies the internet from orbit. According to CNBC, the Starlink internet service will cost $99 per month along with $499 to order the Starlink Kit. This kit includes a manual to connect to the satellite, a tripod, and a Wi-Fi router. Currently, you can already see the Starlink app available on both Android and iOS app stores.

From a screenshot of an email from SpaceX to those who follow the project progress, this trial phase is called “Better Than Nothing Beta.” The email writes:

“As you can tell from the title, we are trying to lower your initial expectations.

Expect to see data speeds vary from 50Mb/s to 150Mb/s and latency from 20ms to 40ms over the nexty several months as we enhance the Starlink system. There will also be brief periods of no connectivity at all.

As we launch more satellites, install more ground stations and improve our networking software, data speed, latency and uptime will improve dramatically. For latency, we expect to achieve 16ms to 19ms by summer 2021.”

The beta trial for users has officially kicked off. Over the past few months, SpaceX has had its employees use Starlink, showing promising download speed and latency.

Those who just received the email will need to fill in a form on the Starlink website, including their contact and personal addresses to sign up for the trial. Elon Musk posted this news back in June and two months later, SpaceX announced there were 700,000 individuals across the US interested in the new service.

The company plans to set up an internet system supplied by thousands of satellites. The company projects that this may cost up to $10 billion but will turn over $30 billion per year, which is 10 times the revenue of the space travel business.

As of now, SpaceX has successfully launched 900 Starlink satellites, only a small part of the total fleet but it’s already enough to supply the internet for several regions. There have been positive comments from users.

According to the Starlink app description, SpaceX says the Better Than Nothing Beta phase aims at users in the US and Canada this year and will quickly expand to the entire world, to residential regions in 2021.

Earlier this month, SpaceX announced its partnership with Microsoft to connect Azure cloud computing with Starlink. The two companies have been testing software connecting these systems. With this partnership, Microsoft will be able to launch mobile data storage center, designed for customers who need the power of cloud computing in challenging regions, including remote areas.

>>> Starlink Flaunts 100 Mbps Download Speed With Its Ambitious Satellite Internet Network