Continuous coverage from SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service is relied upon to go worldwide by around September, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said Tuesday, however the outfit will in any case have to look for regulatory approvals.
Talking at the virtual Macquarie Technology Summit, Shotwell said Starlink as of now has right around 100,000 clients, with half a million people waiting to use the service.
“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 [the] September time frame,” Shotwell said.
That number surpasses Shotwell’s April estimate that the organization could put around 1,600 satellites in low Earth orbit this year, with continuous global coverage conceivable after around 28 launches.
Around the same month, the US Federal Communications Commission approved SpaceX’s plan to grow its high-speed broadband access to more individuals by placing some of its Starlink satellites at a lower orbit than previously planned. The approval followed a December award of $885 million in award funding from the FCC to assist Starlink with giving more prominent broadband access across 35 states.
