SpaceX is expanding its beta test of the Starlink satellite internet service, referring to an email sent on Monday to people who have expressed interest in signing up for the service, according to CNBC. The said to be “Better than Nothing Beta” test is priced at $99 a month with additional $499 upfront costs for the Starlink Kit.
- Starlink is part of SpaceX’s plan to create an interconnected internet network with thousands of satellites to deliver speed internet worldwide.
- SpaceX’s initial service targets U.S. and Canada in 2020 and will expand globally by 2021.
- Starlink teams have cautioned users to expect data speeds of between 50Mb/s to 150Mb/s and latency of 20ms to 40ms over the next months, including brief periods of no connectivity as they embark on the Starlink system.
- This month, SpaceX partnered with Microsoft to connect the tech giant’s Azure cloud computing network to the Starlink network.
SpaceX Starlink to cost about $10 billion or more and the company anticipates fetching as much as $30 billion a year, or more than ten times of annual revenue from rocket business.
