Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starlink says its satellites will be able to provide continuous global internet coverage as soon as September 2021, but will still need to seek regulatory approvals before being able to actually provide the service, Reuters reports.
“We’ve successfully deployed 1,800 or so satellites and once all those satellites reach their operational orbit, we will have continuous global coverage, so that should be like September timeframe,” Starlink president Gwynne Shotwel said.
“But then we have regulatory work to go into every country and get approved to provide telecoms services.”
If Musk’s own assertions about the service are to be believed, this could mean users could experience speeds of up to 300mb/s from as early as September.
“Speed will double to ~300Mb/s & latency will drop to ~20ms later this year,” Musk said earlier this year.
The news comes after Starlink received more than half a million preorders for its highly-anticipated internet service back in May.
“To date, over half a million people have placed an order or put down a deposit for Starlink,” SpaceX operations engineer Siva Bharadvaj said at the time.
But despite the mammoth size of the order, Musk says the company will have no issues meeting the demand.
So far, Starlink’s beta service has been rolled out in 11 countries across the globe, with more to be added to the growing list as the company moves to send a whopping 12,000 satellites into orbit.
However, it’s worth noting that not everyone is receiving the high-speed service they were hoping for. As previously reported, some areas in the US like Michigan and Wisconsin are receiving lower download speeds compared to local fixed broadband providers, which is unfortunate given the price of the service.
According to the website, Starlink is looking to roll out service more extensively in Australia from mid to late 2021, with preorders currently available for many areas across the country. But considering we’re well and truly into “mid 2021” already with no specific release date, that ETA should probably be taken with a grain of salt.
[related_content first=”1702679″]
The initial beta is currently available for limited residents in Victoria and New South Wales, with more areas expected to be included in the coming months.
“Starlink is now available in limited supply in Australia! Initial beta service is available in parts of central Victoria and southern New South Wales,” a press release stated earlier this year.
Elon Musk is personally yet to comment on the announcement, but we can safely assume it’ll cop a mention on his Twitter shortly.
You can find out if you’re eligible for Starlink services on the website here.
Gizmodo Australia has reached out to SpaceX for comment.