Elon Musk presents SpaceX and Starlink plans for 2024
The SpaceX and Starlink founder presented his plans for 2024 at his annual press conference in Boca Chica. According to Elon Musk, SpaceX has reached a record number of Falcon rocket launches over the past year – 96 times, which is the largest number of rocket launches in one year in history. This is an indicator of SpaceX’s high productivity and efficiency, which confirms their undisputed dominance in the space industry.
As part of the Starlink project, SpaceX intends to expand Internet access to remote and underprivileged regions of the world in 2024. Thanks to the introduction of new V2 Mini satellites, the system capacity has doubled from 88 terabits per second to 165 terabits. This will be a key step towards achieving the project’s goal of providing high-speed Internet to more than half of the world’s population by the end of the year. The company also aims to reduce network latency to less than 20 ms.
Starlink has also initiated Direct to Cell, which allows text messages to be sent directly from a mobile phone to the satellite and back. This innovation can save lives in emergency situations, especially in remote areas where there is no mobile connection.
Partnerships with companies such as T-Mobile in the US, Rogers in Canada and Opus in Australia demonstrate Starlink’s growing role in global infrastructure. These collaborations emphasize Starlink’s integral role in the future of global connectivity. The feature is positioned as an additional service for existing mobile operators.
According to Musk, Starlink’s key mission is not only to provide access to the Internet, but also to improve the quality of life for people around the world. This project has the potential to become one of the most important technologies for improving living standards globally. Starlink is not only a technological breakthrough, but also a symbol of hope for millions of people who are currently without reliable Internet connectivity. As Starlink develops and expands its capabilities, it will become a crucial factor in overcoming global digital inequality by radically changing the Internet communications industry.
Musk also noted that the success of the SpaceX program in 2023 was a milestone for the company, particularly given that 80% of all launches into orbit in the world were carried out by SpaceX. This figure is expected to grow by another 50% in 2024.
In addition, SpaceX is actively developing the Starship project, which intends to deliver cargo to the Moon and Mars in the future. Starship will be a fully and rapidly reusable rocket capable of delivering up to 100 tons of payload to orbit.
This project plays a key role in humanity’s plans to create a permanently inhabited base on the Moon and a city on Mars, opening up new horizons for the multi-planetary existence of mankind.
The company reported that as of the end of 2023, 2.3 million customers used Starlink services worldwide, including all seven continents, Gizmodo writes.
Starlink’s revenues in 2022 amounted to $1.4 billion, while in 2021 the company earned $222 million. In 2015, Elon Musk predicted that by 2022, the project would be able to reach $7 billion in profit and about $12 billion in revenue, with the number of users reaching about 20 million.
As of 2022, Starlink had just over 1 million users, with 4,200 satellites in orbit, and was available in 60 countries.
