Elon Musk Reveals SpaceX's Starlink Internet Speed

Elon Musk Promises Faster Starlink Internet Speed This Year

In a recent tweet, Elon Musk has revealed the current speed of Starlink‘s internet service. He also claims that it’ll double to 300 Mbps this year.

Two years ago, a private space company, SpaceX, began launching its network of Starlink satellites into Earth’s lower orbit. The company’s aim was apparent — to control a massive share of the future internet.

Thanks to its satellite network, SpaceX can offer “fast, reliable internet to locations where access has been unreliable or expensive.”

Currently, SpaceX has launched over 1,000 of its proposed 42,000 Starlink satellites. However, the satellite cluster is already in operation high in the clouds.

So, it wasn’t surprising when the space company started a beta test internet service in the summer of 2020.

For $99 a month, select users were able to access broadband beamed down from space. Then, earlier this month, SpaceX opened up the service to more people via an online application on its website.

Today, over 10,000 people are using Starlink’s internet service.

SpaceX’s CEO, Elon Musk, discusses upcoming improvements to internet service’s speed in a recent tweet.

Elon Musk on Starlink Internet Speed and Latency

SpaceX promises an internet speed that’s between 50 and 150Mbps, and that appears to be the case — so far.

An individual who had just received their Starlink beta kit uploaded an image of the dish and a screenshot of a speed test of 130Mbps. In response, Elon Musk stated that the goal is 300Mbps this year.

Speed will double to ~300Mb/s & latency will drop to ~20ms later this year

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2021

Admittedly, 300Mbps is not particularly exciting as far as broadband speed goes.

However, that’s significantly faster than the internet speed in several homes. This is especially true in the low-to-medium density areas that Musk talks of targeting.

The SpaceX chief also promised an improved latency — the time it takes for data to transfer between a source and its destination.

At the moment, the Starlink website states that latency should be between 20 and 40ms during the beta. But, according to Elon, it should improve to around 20ms.

The Starlink initiative could deliver affordable internet to millions of people. However, scientists point out that the bright satellites could also end astronomy as we know it.