Starlink – internet service through satellites

“Starlink” is a satellite constellation from SpaceX which will be placed in low earth orbit to provide internet access via satellite throughout the entire planet. It will consist of a series of small satellites working in combination with ground transceivers. Elon Musk has received approval from the Federal communications commission (FCC) to deploy 12,000 satellites for this mission, with a possible later extension up to 42,000. A few of them will also help in sectors like military, science and other exploratory purposes.

The project has been in development since 2015, the first 2 prototypes took place in February 2018. Since then, SpaceX has been deploying satellite constellations of 60 numbers at a time. As of 7 August, it has 597 satellites in orbit. SpaceX is trying to achieve a private beta service particularly in the United States and Canada before the end of this month. If all goes according to plan, we can experience the near global service in late 2021 or 2022.

The company is said to launch its 11th batch on 18 August (containing 58 satellites). They are achieving a crazy amount of efficiency in launching these satellites by the help of Falcon-9 rockets, since it can be reusable. 

There have been a few concerns about the amount of space debris that will be left by the satellite constellations and its negative effect on observational and radio Astronomy. These problems are being avoided by making the satellites orbit in a much lower altitude and having some proper anti-reflective coating on the satellites. Starlink will help us achieve a high speed internet of 1 Gbps with very low latency of milliseconds in every nook and corner of the world. This futuristic dream isn’t far from reality.