SpaceX, the private spaceflight company that’s famous for its giant, shiny starship, reusable rockets, and its enigmatic and well-known CEO Elon Musk, has just confirmed that come 2020, it will now be offering its own satellite internet service as well.
To be called Starlink, SpaceX president and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell said in a press release at the 70th International Astronautical Congress held in Washington that the company is planning to launch around eight Falcon 9 rockets, which are filled with Starlink satellites to help set up the service.
"We'll continue to upgrade the network until mid to late next year," Shotwell said at the congress. "We're hoping for 24 launches by the end of the year."
Last May 23, SpaceX shot a Falcon 9 rocket that was carrying 60 satellites as the first part of the Starlink mission, laying the foundation for what would be tens of thousands of rockets in the future. Next month, the next batch of 60 satellites will be sent out.
And to celebrate, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted about the event, saying “Whoa, it worked!” Per SpaceX, Musk used a Starlink terminal in his house to send the tweet, something that Starlink customers will be able to access via a box from the company soon.
"Knowing Elon, he wants everything to be beautiful. So the user terminal will be beautiful," Shotwell mentioned.
According to Musk, 400 Starlink satellites are needed up in space to provide “minor” broadband coverage, while a more moderate one would require around 800. Thankfully, the company has already called for the construction of around 12,000 satellites, all while filing paperwork with the International Telecommunication Union to launch another 3,000 up into space to form the mega-constellation.
However, while SpaceX would not need that many satellites for global coverage, the sheer amount of them up in space means that the company can also use them for customized service, with the U.S. military being one of those potential customers.
At the moment, the U.S. Air Force is already testing the company’s Starlink technology via a project called Global Lightning, which is a part of the $28 million contract that SpaceX won last year from the Pentagon.
Source: https://www.medicaldaily.com/spacexs-starlink-service-provide-broadband-2020-444937