SpaceX Now Touts 10,000 Starlink Users As Its Satellite Internet Constellation Rapidly Expands
Since the first launch in 2019, the Starlink satellite network has steadily been growing. Once it had enough satellites in Earth orbit, SpaceX introduced the beta program, which has grown immensely as well. Now, in an FCC filing to become a telecommunications carrier, Elon Musk’s company disclosed that it has 10,000 users in the United States and abroad, marking a significant stepping stone in going big with Starlink.
The filing explains that “Starlink’s performance is not theoretical or experimental,” as it has “successfully demonstrated it can surpass the Commission’s 'Above Baseline' and 'Low Latency' performance tiers.” This means that the service meets or exceeds 100Mbps down and 20 Mbps up, with 95% of network traffic having a round-trip latency at or below 31ms. These metrics should also continue to improve as SpaceX averages two Starlink launches per month, which adds “significant on-orbit capacity alongside activation of additional gateways to improve performance and expand service coverage areas across the country.”
Falcon 9 launches 60 Starlink satellites to orbit – mission from pad 39A on deck pic.twitter.com/71cuCBgPNX
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 4, 2021
The FCC filing also reports that SpaceX has been awarded $885 million in federal support to be doled out over the next ten years to bring Starlink to 35 states. This is because SpaceX won the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund bid, which will “ensure continued and rapid deployment of broadband networks to underserved Americans.” Hopefully, with this funding and designation as an RDOF recipient, the Starlink network will grow exponentially.
Now that Starlink could become a proper telecommunications carrier, we will likely see more exciting news coming from the company. Increased growth and customer base are on the horizon, and the performance metrics reported put Starlink as a direct competitor to most ISPs in the U.S. Perhaps this will force companies to improve existing infrastructure so our internet connections can compete with other countries. All-in-all, it is an exciting time for both Starlink fans and anyone with an internet connection at large.
