Starlink, SpaceX and Elon Musk’s crazy Internet through space project, will exceed 100 Mbps in downstream speed. In parallel with the launch of 60 additional satellites, the American company delivered the first results of the performance tests of its future service.
While waiting for the first Starlink private beta phases scheduled for three to four months, Elon Musk's aerospace company continues to expand its fleet of satellites. This Thursday, September 3, 2020, the American company successfully sent around sixty additional satellites into low orbit.
At present, SpaceX's fleet therefore stands at 700 satellites, and it should continue to grow until it reaches 1600 aircraft, by the time the service is deployed in early 2022. Occasionally of this twelfth successful launch, SpaceX has communicated the results of the first performance tests. The numbers speak for themselves: 100 Mbps downlink.
"That's enough to play the fastest online video games and stream multiple HD movies simultaneously," said Kate Tice, engineer at SpaceX. With such a speed, subscribing to a cloud gaming service like Microsoft's Xcloud or Google Stadia could be considered with much more serenity.
In addition, SpaceX teams carried out the first tests of the laser link between two satellites in the fleet. This technology can transfer "hundreds of gigabytes of data per second". Through the laser link, Starlink aims to become "one of the fastest options available for transferring data around the world".
Amazon is also in the race alongside SpaceX
As a reminder, SpaceX is not the only company to embark on this crazy project of Internet by space. On August 1, 2020, Amazon announced that it would invest $ 10 billion to launch more than 3,000 satellites into orbit. With this constellation of devices in low orbit, the e-commerce giant hopes to be able to provide high-speed Internet access to regions of the world without connection.
According to Amazon, the services of "Project Kuiper" will be reserved primarily for homes, schools, hospitals and businesses where Internet access is complicated or impossible. “Our $ 10 billion investment will create jobs and America’s infrastructure will help us bridge the gap,” said Dave Limp, vice president of Amazon.