Earlier this year, Elon Musk’s SpaceX-owned Starlink opened up registration for its satellite internet service across many countries, including India. Interested people had to deposit $99 (approximately Rs 7,300) as a security deposit for the equipment during the first trial. SpaceX has now closed registrations just after receiving 5 million requests across the globe.
The information comes from Michael Sheetz’s tweet that mentions the total number of registrations Starlink managed. In response to this tweet, Elon Musk said, “Only limitation is high density of users in urban areas. Most likely, all of the initial 500k will receive service. More of a challenge when we get into the several million user range.” Moreover, the deposit amount of $99 is refundable and does not guarantee service.
Starlink internet service gets 5 million users
“The update on Starlink orders/deposits is the first SpaceX has given in three months, when it said in February that Starlink had grown to more than 10,000 users since the public beta began in October,” adds Sheetz in another tweet.
Starlink satellite launch onboard a SpaceX rocket.
The Starlink service aims to provide internet service to remote locations on Earth. This is achieved by deploying a constellation of Starlink space satellites that will orbit Earth. With a small receiver system on the user’s end, the user can expect to get Internet speeds between 50 Mbps to 150 Mbps initially. With more satellites in orbit, Starlink users can witness increased speeds and lower latency.
The company plans to eventually deploy 12,000 satellites in a low Earth orbit. SpaceS is using its own Falcon 9 rocket systems to deploy satellites around Earth. The Starlink constellation is said to cost roughly $10 billion (approximately Rs 73,840 crores). The company aims to deliver speeds of up to 1Gbps. Users will be given the entire Starlink kit, which includes the Wi-Fi router, cables, and even the tripod to mount the Starlink system.
However, SpaceX isn’t the only one in this space. Amazon’s Project Kuiper system is also expected to deploy several satellites around the globe to provide Internet access to several remote locations on the planet.
