Tesla’s Starlink now beaming internet through satellites, it’s fast, expensive, albeit, but unreliable

Tesla, through its SpaceX initiative, has pulled off another revolutionary feat by showing that it’s possible to provide blazing fast internet access, possibly on a global scale through a satellite. The Starlink is a satellite internet constellation being constructed by SpaceX providing satellite Internet access.

The constellation will consist of thousands of mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit, working in combination with ground transceivers. Although providing internet connectivity through satellite is something that is not new, carrying it out on a continental scale with fast speeds is something that has not been achieved until now.

Reddit users have testified some amazing results. One user claimed streaming 1440p and 4K with zero buffering on YouTube.

He wrote, “Latency averages about 34ms, I’m seeing some jitter increase when obstacles are in the path. It’s on the roof with the ridgeline mount. I have a couple of trees in the way, but getting steady high speeds. Noticed a couple of interruptions, probably from satellite transitions, but almost 100% steady since initial setup. I actually uploaded this post using Starlink.”

“As a few different people are looking for details on this, interruptions are about ten to fifteen seconds and seem to happen every few minutes. I haven’t noticed enough repetition to determine, but I’m suspecting it may be when the satellite goes behind the few trees inside the obstruction area rather than satellite handoffs.”

“The app claims Starlink has not been obstructed recently, though, so I’m uncertain,” he added.The pricing for this is put on the higher end. The phased array antenna and router would cost a user $499 while the monthly subscription would cost around $99. This seems counterintuitive to SpaceX’s own intention of providing accessibility to as many people in the world as possible because accessibility cannot be realised unless the product itself is made affordable to the masses.

Starlink is targeting service in the Northern U.S. and Canada in 2020, and rapidly expanding towards a near global coverage of the populated world, tentatively by 2021. The satellites will utilize their on-board propulsion system to deorbit over the course of a few months. In the unlikely event the propulsion system becomes inoperable.

The satellites will burn up in Earth’s atmosphere within 1-5 years, significantly less than the hundreds or thousands of years required at higher altitude, thereby keeping space debris at a minimum.

Each satellite sent by SpaceX weighs in at 260 kilograms and features a compact, flat-panel design that minimizes volume, which in turn allows for a dense launch stack to take maximum advantage of the launching capabilities of the Falcon-9 Rocket by SpaceX. Instead of orbiting at over 22,000 miles above the earth, Starlink will be orbiting at 340 miles.

Tesla is also taking upon them by framing new laws for internet connectivity on different planets or moons. The reports state that future colonies created by SpaceX would use Starlink satellites to provide internet connections to individuals. Starlink services provided to Earth, moon or Mars shall be subject to the laws of the State of California.

“For services provided on Mars, or in transit to Mars or other colonisation spacecraft, the parties recognise Mars as a free planet and that no Earth-based government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities,” the governing law states.