SpaceX's Starlink division is on track to offer satellite-broadband service in the United States in mid-2020, the company’s president and chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell said Oct. 22.
Getting there will require the company to launch six to eight batches of satellites, Shotwell told reporters during a media roundtable. SpaceX also has to finish the design and engineering of the user terminals, which is not a minor challenge, Shotwell acknowledged.
SpaceX’s proposed Starlink constellation of thousands of satellites, which are designed to orbit at low altitudes above the Earth and beam internet coverage to the surface below.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk posted two tweets that show he's testing the broadband service.
Elon Musk has a Starlink terminal at his house and he used it to send a tweet early on Oct. 22.
”Sending this tweet through space via Starlink satellite,” Elon Musk tweeted to his 29 million followers. Two minutes later, Musk sent a follow-up tweet that said, "Whoa, it worked!!"
In this video Engineering Today will discuss SpaceX’s plan to provide internet coverage with Starlink constellation as soon as mid-2020.
Let’s get started.