Elon Musk Launches 60 Starlink Satellites To Provide Internet Access Globally; India Launch Date?

Space X aimed to launch its 12th Starlink mission. And after its huge success, the mission added 60 more satellites into Earth’s lower orbit. According to the latency data and standard speed test of the system, it has been observed that the satellites can record a downloading speed of more than 100Mbps. SpaceX COO and President Gwynne Shotwell has previously said that the company has plans to launch more than 30,000 satellites to fully build out its network capacity and speed.Almost 1000 satellites are already launched by SpaceX into the earth’s lower orbits will offer broadband coverage. Each satellite takes advantage of the carrier rocket, Falcon 9 by minimizing the volume, using a unique flat-panel design.

Starlink launch date in India

Elon Musk aims to launch its satellite internet service, Starlink, in India in 2022. Satellite internet has a lot of potential in India as providing coverage through the on-ground mobile tower in remote areas is difficult. As per WEF, India has also been one of the fastest-growing markets in terms of new adoption with the number of internet users growing by 23% between 2019 and 2020.

 Several Indian locations have been specified on the website. Indian users can pre-book the Starlink services at a refundable amount of $99(around Rs 7265). Normally the communication satellite operates from medium earth orbit of 2000km to 35,000km and sometimes beyond 35,000. But due to closer proximity to the earth’s surface Starlink will result in better internet service.

What about Data speed latency and uptime?

 The target, according to Kate Tice, a senior programme reliability engineer at SpaceX, is to bring high-speed internet to areas where it has never been available before, and at an affordable cost. “We’re checking how fast data travels from the satellites to our customers, and then back to the rest of the internet. Initial results have been good,” she said. “Our network, of course, is very much a work in progress,” she noted. “And over time, we will continue to add features to unlock the full capability of that network.” SpaceX claims that data speed latency and uptime will improve further with the launch of more satellite, installation of more ground stations and upgrading of networking software.