Elon Musk has announced that SpaceX’s Starlink project will go live in October, a month later than was initially planned. Starlink aims to deliver broadband services to the whole world using a satellite constellation.
Musk, who is not known for meeting deadlines, took to Twitter to confirm that the company received good feedback from its Starlink beta 10 users. There are plans to deliver beta 10.1, which beta users can request beginning this Friday, ahead of an official launch in October. Beta services currently work in 11 countries.
The service described
SpaceX Starlink outlined its beta services, with users expected to see data speeds fluctuate between 50 and 150Mbps. Latency will range from 20ms to 40ms in most locations over the next several months, as the system continues to be augmented and refined.
There will also be brief periods where there is no connection at all, according to the company’s statement. Starlink shipped 100,000 terminals to customers in August. At the time, Musk said that license approval to provide telco services remained pending in many countries. Meanwhile, SpaceX just completed its first private crewed mission successfully.
Space tourists
After orbiting the earth for three days at altitudes of 590 kilometres above the earth’s surface, the crew of Inspiration4 splashed down off the coast of Florida at 7:06 pm EDT, September 18, in a fully automated Crew Dragon spacecraft.
The flight also researched the crew to enhance human health on Earth and during future long-duration spaceflight.
The research involves sleep, heart rate and rhythm, cabin noise, blood oxygen, and light intensity. The mission also fundraised more than $210 million to help children with cancer at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.