advertisement
Facebook
X
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Reddit

Starlink now has 90k users as it beams internet in 12 countries

We have been following SpaceX’s Starlink project with some interest in recent months, namely as the internet beaming satellites that been sent into orbit with regularity by the company are expected to be made available in South Africa at a yet-to-be determined time. For now, it continues to gather momentum as more users have signed up for the service.

According to the latest official count, which was shared as the result of a call with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the US on 29th July, Starlink now has 90 000 users and is operating in 12 countries.

This latest figure is based on households which have a Starlink dish set up, so there is likely more than 90 000 people that make use of the connectivity that the satellites beam down. It also represents a growth of 20 000 users in the space of a month, with the company aiming to reach the 500 000 mark by the middle of next year.

If that is to come to fruition, we’re hoping that countries like ours will be able to make use of the service in the coming months. For, while you can sign up for Starlink locally, it is still awaiting regulatory approval.

Along with an update on current user numbers, the call with the FCC also yielded information about the next-gen satellites that Starlink hopes to launch. These devices are said to deliver faster speeds, lower latency and greater backhaul capacity, which all sound good on paper, but without definitive numbers remains to be seen how worthwhile it would be over current fibre and broadband locally.

With 11 000 satellites planned to bring Starlink’s worldwide covering internet connectivity to life, the company ended the FCC call by noting its intention to launch more satellites via its Starship vessel. Currently, missions with the Falcon 9 rocket can launch 60 Starlink satellites at a time, whereas the Starship would bosst that number to up to 400 per mission.

With 1 700 already in orbit, the fate of the Starship could have an impact on how the Starlink network develops.

[Source – CNBC]
[Image – Photo by SpaceX on Unsplash]

advertisement

About Author

advertisement

Related News

advertisement