On the other side of the hot 5G application, satellite Internet is also catching up to the real life of human beings. It is reported that SpaceX, Musk’s space exploration technology company, has launched more than 1,000 satellites for its Starlink Internet service and is conducting early tests in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
SpaceX has told investors that Starlink is fighting for a piece of a trillion-dollar market consisting of in-flight internet, shipping services, and customers in remote areas. Musk has to be admired. He has upended the auto industry with electric vehicles and the rocket launch industry with reusable rockets. Now, he wants to disrupt the telecommunications field with the Starlink satellite internet.
It is understood that Brian Rendel lives near Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA, and the internet speed is always very slow on his 65-hectare farm. He became a member of the Starlink Internet service in November last year. tester. After paying about $500, FedEx sent him a satellite dish and other ancillary equipment, while paying $99 a month for internet. Lendl’s network now has download speeds of 100MB per second and upload speeds of 15 to 20MB per second. He said it was much faster than the internet service he had used before.
Rendall, a mental health counselor, can now easily watch movies or hold video conferences with clients via Zoom. “The Starlink Internet service is a game-changer, and it makes me feel like I’m integrated into modern civilization again,” he said.
For several months, SpaceX has been using Falcon 9 rockets to launch Starlink satellites in batches of 60 each, with the 17th launch just completed on January 20. At present, about 960 Starlink satellites are in normal operation in orbit, which heralds the arrival of the Internet era of giant space-based satellites, but also raises the concern of astronomers about visual pollution.
But Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit are closer to Earth than traditional satellite internet services, which is enough to allow SpaceX to launch services across large swathes of North America and the UK. As SpaceX launches more and more satellites, its coverage will expand, as will its potential customers and revenue streams. SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment.
“It’s important that people are comfortable with the performance and economics of Starlink’s internet service, and SpaceX has proven that they are,” said Luigi Peluso, managing director of Alvarez & Marsal, an analyst firm that tracks the aerospace and defense industry. Feasibility of the solution.”
Last year, SpaceX chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell said that the Starlink business could be spun off and listed. That means another of Musk’s businesses could go public, following last year’s big rally in Tesla’s stock market.
However, Starlink Internet services will face a lot of competition. While it is widely believed that laying fiber-optic cables in remote areas and many rural areas is too expensive, cellular connectivity is expected to make significant strides with the advent of 5G and 6G. Meanwhile, other well-funded companies such as Facebook are developing more innovative attempts to expand cellular networks into underserved areas.
“While many early adopters of Starlink Internet services think anything Musk puts out is cool, the speed at which satellite networks can grow can be difficult,” said John Byrne, a telecom analyst at market research firm GlobalData. Catch up with advances in cellular technology.”
risk of congestion
SpaceX is primarily known for launching rockets from global satellite operators, the U.S. military and NASA, among others. Last year, the company made history by becoming the first private company to send astronauts to the International Space Station.
Starlink marks SpaceX’s first foray into a truly consumer-facing product, and maintaining a robust service while expanding its customer base is something SpaceX has never attempted before. But industry analyst Jim Patterson said: “Like any Musk launch, Starlink will be well-received when underutilized. However, as its reach expands, it Will face the same congestion problems as our peers.”
However, SpaceX said the service will continue to improve as more infrastructure is built. “As we launch more satellites, install more ground stations, improve our network software, data transmission speeds, Latency and uptime will both be significantly improved.”
Fans are enthusiastic
Starlink is gearing up for the 2021 event, hiring software engineers, customer support managers, sales directors, and national release managers. In addition, the “fan enthusiasm” of consumers and retail investors for Tesla vehicles has spread to the Starlink project. Facebook, Reddit and Twitter are flooded with reports from early customers sharing pictures of their download speeds. YouTube also has a lot of videos showing people going through the process of “unboxing” the Starlink satellite dish and going through the initial setup.
Ross Youngblood lives in Oregon, USA, and works as a remote engineer at a tech company in San Jose. He owns a Tesla Model X and is very attentive to any news from Musk. He purchased the Starlink Internet service before Thanksgiving. “I just plug the antenna in and it starts to work,” he said. “It’s going to be very disruptive, and I don’t think enough people have noticed yet.”
Many other customers are also waiting. In December, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) awarded SpaceX $885.5 million in subsidies to support its efforts to provide broadband service to more than 10 million Americans in rural areas. SpaceX will focus on 35 states, including Alabama, Idaho, Montana and Washington, among others.
“Aging infrastructure”
“We can’t keep throwing money at aging infrastructure,” said Russ Elliot, director of the Washington State Broadband Office. “With Starlink, you can get online anytime, anywhere. With this technology as an option , access to the network in remote rural or costly areas is no longer a big problem.”
In the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, Elliott helped connect SpaceX with members of the Hoh tribe in western Washington. Native American communities have struggled for years to bring high-speed internet to their remote reservation, which spans about 405 hectares and houses 23 homes. It is difficult for children to learn remotely, the internet connection is so slow, and downloading assignments can take all day.
In a short video produced by the Washington State Department of Commerce, Hoh Tribe member Melvinjohn Ashue said, “The advent of SpaceX takes us into the 21st century.” After connecting to the Starlink Internet for the first time After the service, the first thing Ashur did was to download a blockbuster “Jurassic Park”. Now, most families in this reservation use Starlink services, and they can not only receive online education, but also make telemedicine appointments and online meetings.
Maria Lopez of the tribe said: “Internet access is a utility, not a luxury anymore. The Starlink network is easy to connect, the hardest part is climbing the ladder and placing the antenna on the On the roof. Also, the network will go down every now and then, but it will automatically restart soon.”
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