According to a tweet by Elon Musk, Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite-based internet provider will double its speed later this year. The tweet was posted as a reply to someone who just got their Starlink beta kit.
The company promises that users will have speeds of between 50 and 150mbps. Musk specifically refers to the 300 Mbps goal in his tweet. Even though 300 Mbps is not unheard of, it is faster than what most people currently have.
The low-to-medium population density areas are what Musk refers to in a second tweet.
Elon Musk and fans
In a tweet posted by @SpaceXFan97, he set the dish on the ground outside and tested the speed. He shared a screenshot showing that his speed was hovering at 130 Mbps, which is blazing fast by any modern personal use standards.
Elon Musk then replied to the tweet by saying:
“Speed will double to 300Mb/s & latency will drop to 20ms later this year”
Another Twitter user replied to this by asking about the coverage map. Elon Musk specified the scope of the project, indicating that Starlink’s coverage will cover very large portions of the planet.
Coverage for all earthlings
In the reply to coverage, Elon Musk said that most of Earth will be able to access the network by end of next year. After that, it will be about densifying the coverage to reach more people and accommodate densely populated areas.
Starlink now has more than 10,000 customers who use the currently orbiting 1,200 satellites.
The service costs about $99 per month and also charges an additional $500 for the initial equipment cost. Right now, it is accepting pre-orders for customers in parts of Canada, the UK, and the US northwest, between latitudes 43 and 54 degrees North.