If you’re getting tired of dealing with your overpriced local internet service provider, SpaceX might have you covered.
The private equivalent of NASA, founded by entrepreneur Elon Musk, just launched an official website for its internet-beaming satellite constellation aptly named as Starlink. The aptly named initiative will bring more communication bandwidth, or internet, to populated areas on earth.
According to the new dedicated site, Starlink plans to offer internet services to Northern U.S. and Canada after six waves of deployment, including the completed first one that nested 60 small satellites into a 550km low orbit.
SpaceX says it is planning two to six Starlink deployments by the end of 2019, and the rocket launching company expects to beam “low latency and high bandwidth” internet down to populated areas around the world after 24 deployments.
Without numbers, it’s unclear how space Wi-Fi would compare to the current land-based network infrastructure we currently have.
This is also not the first time a silicon valley giant has adopted a somewhat wacky plan to bring internet to consumers. Back in 2014, Facebook aimed to deliver internet access to the world through a fleet of solar-powered drones flying continuously at 18,228 meters (60,000 feet) altitude.
The plan called Project Aquila, however, was shelved in 2018. Google, on the other hand, used giant balloons to spread internet down to Puerto Rico following the devastating Hurricane Maria.
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