Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite orbiting above Belarus on January 22.
Elon Musk’s Starlink hit the headlines when up to 40 of the 49 small satellites launched last week have either re-entered the atmosphere and burned up, or are on the verge of doing so, the company said in an online update* Tuesday night. SpaceX still has more than 2,000 Starlink satellites orbiting earth and providing internet service to remote corners of the world. It is already available in 23 countries around the world, including the UK.
Beating Big Brother
Calling Major Tom—or anyone, anywhere. (Photo: Josh Burn).
Technically a division within SpaceX, Starlink is also the name of the spaceflight company’s growing network—or “constellation”—of orbital satellites, according to CNet. The development of that network began in 2015, with the first prototype satellites launched into orbit in 2018. SpaceX says putting satellites in low earth orbit would provide high-speed, cable-like internet all over the world.
Just like existing providers of satellite internet like HughesNet or Viasat, Starlink wants to sell internet access particularly to people in rural areas and other parts of the world who don’t already have access to high-speed broadband.
Speeds around 78Mbps in California
“Unbounded by traditional ground infrastructure, Starlink can deliver high-speed broadband internet to locations where access has been unreliable or completely unavailable,” its website says. All you need to do to make the connection is set up a small satellite dish at your home to receive the signal and pass the bandwidth on to your router.
“Users can expect to see data speeds vary from 50 to 150 megabits per second and latency from 20 to 40 milliseconds in most locations over the next several months.” Starlink’s website also warns of 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.”
Beyond government control
Starlink is now accepting orders on a first-come, first-served basis. During its beta in 2021, Starlink said that some pre-orders could take as long as six months to fulfill. The cost of the service is billed at $99 per month, plus taxes and fees, plus an initial payment of $499 for the mountable satellite dish and router that you’ll need to install at home.
What that means is that anyone can access the internet from anywhere, Forbes points out in an article entitled “Elon Musk’s 42000 Starlink satellites could just save the world.” Chinese citizens will be able to access Google and information about Tiananmen Square. Russian citizens will be able to see external analysis of Putin’s financial dealings if even Russia blocks outside sources. Indian protesters can’t be cut off from the internet and African opposition parties will have a voice.
Uninterrupted, wide-spread access to global information, space-based and beyond the control of any government will change the world’s communications. How will this quantum leap affect your business? Will landlines become obsolete? Which markets will open up when access to information about your products is no longer controlled, either by governments or indeed global entertainment companies?
To answer these and other planning condundums, visit the Forecast 5 website to find out more about how we can help and then download our 21-day free trial and start working on the future.
- The satellites hit by the solar storm were in a temporary position. SpaceX deliberately launches them into this unusually low orbit so that any duds can quickly re-enter the atmosphere and pose no threat to other spacecraft.