SpaceX announces the launch of the world’s fastest satellite Internet and announces the release of the compact Starlink Mini
SpaceX will launch the fastest satellite internet service in the world, for which you will have to pay a one-time fee of $1.25 million, and subsequent subscriptions will start at $75 thousand. per Gbps per month. Musk also announced the release of Starlink Mini, which should fit into a backpack.
The service, called Community Gateways, will offer Internet with a download and upload speed of 10 Gbps and a latency of less than 99 ms (for comparison, the standard speed on Starlink’s network varies from 100 to 400 Mbps).
For the $1.25 million paid, SpaceX will not just send a terminal, but will help create an entire complex. The offer is designed primarily for Internet service providers who are trying to find ways to introduce high-speed broadband in remote areas.
In September, the company announced that it had built the first Community Gateway complex for residents of Unalaska, a city located on an island near Alaska. Local ISP OptimERA now uses a satellite connection from the gateway to boost broadband for most of its customers.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk announced in his recent speech that the Starlink Mini terminal is being prepared for release in 2024, and it will be so compact that it will fit in a backpack.
In 2023, SpaceX completed 96 successful missions, safely flew 12 more astronauts into orbit, launched two flight tests of Starship, and more than doubled the number of people around the world connected by @Starlink.
Watch @elonmusk deliver a company update: pic.twitter.com/7zeTlQLgp9
– SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 12, 2024
The Federal Communications Commission approved SpaceX’s application to use MacBook-sized Starlink mini-terminals back in September, but the company has been silent about the product until now. There are no prices, specifications or images yet.
As for the next-generation “standard” Starlink terminal, pre-orders for the product started in November. The cost of the equipment is the same – $599, but the production itself, as Musk hinted, is already cheaper (previously it was about $3000 per unit, but the company was constantly reducing production costs, which included the opening of a new plant in Texas).
