SpaceX Starlink Beta Testing Starting in North America This Summer

The SpaceX Starlink network will start beta testing this summer (probably August, 2020) in North America. There will be another launch in July and two more launches in August. This will be enough for the 720 satellites needed for basic northern hemisphere service.

The SpaceX Starlink website indicates global service will start in 2021.

SOURCES – Hyperchange
Written By Brian Wang, Nextbigfuture.com (Brian has shares of SpaceX)

13 thoughts on “SpaceX Starlink Beta Testing Starting in North America This Summer”

  1. Should have been clearer. Most direct to customers two-way satellite communication businesses have failed.

  2. What do you mean by ‘satellite based communication services have failed’?
    What do you think is the purpose of most satellites?

  3. How can society rein in chronic deviance without social control? Economic pressure is the only thing that maintains the social contract.
    Deviants have somehow forgotten the most important requirement to enjoy the benefits of society, if they want a seat at the table they will have to pretend to be civilized. If this is a problem, you’re out of luck unless you’re rich, poor or old.

    If you want more of something, subsidize it; if you want less of something, tax it.

    Freedom of Association is both an individual right and a collective right, guaranteed by all modern and democratic legal systems.

  4. Bezos has a business driven by relatively low value sales, while Musk has just Tesla , and I can’t imagine a serious person being able to afford such a car and at the same time buying into this kind of ideology. Whatever Bezos might be doing on this front, that’s just a temporary facade.

  5. They failed due to using GSO and MEO orbits which due to the distance (6000km to 24000km have a high latency. This is a LEO attempt which should have very low latency (300-600km LEO). The problem will be demand and number of nodes/connections.

  6. You know what we can do when satellites expires, don’t insult the intelligence of your readers. 0.2 seconds extra latency for satellites do not justify the massive sky pollution resulting. There are earthly even lower latency solutions. If is such an issue it can be used to develop quantum communication. The Musk is not a very deep thinker wrapped in childish self interests, enough fools have already fallen to his folly of sending a million people to Mars, yes because he is such a good engineer.

  7. I wish them luck. But all satellite based communication services have failed. SpaceX launch cost is low so maybe that will spell the difference.

  8. Besides astronomy can move to greener pastures by shifting to use space telescopes mostly, specially so if space access is much cheaper.

    Soon-ish, universities will be launching their own projects into space without requiring billions USD, including telescopes.

  9. Musk really stepped in it when he tweeted “Cancel cancel culture.” He’ll need every bit of cash reserves he can muster to deal with the fallout from that in stark contrast to Bezos who is manifestly all in with Cancel Culture.

  10. Elon needs his “cash cow”, so he won’t be too dependant on “moodiness” of goverment officials. 
    If(when) SpaceX pulls it off, I think we will see a lot of developments in space tech. I think he will spend money for good cause, for new better spaceships, engines, satellites, mars habitats,…

  11. You do realize, don’t you, that you cannot create a low-latency network when using satellites in geo-synchronous orbits, don’t you? If you do, then what is your point?

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