Elon Musk says Starlink internet will have global coverage by August during Mobile World Congress
- SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said the Starlink satellite internet service will cover everywhere in the world except polar regions by August
- Starlink aims to cover 5 per cent of the world, where wired internet is absent, but investment could hit US$10 billion before it is profitable, Musk said
“We recently passed the strategically notable number of 69,420 active users,” Musk joked. “We’re I think on our way to having a few hundred thousand users, possibly over 500,000 users within 12 months.”
China’s secretive state-owned firm taking on Elon Musk’s Starlink
Musk, who turned 50 on Monday, discussed several additional upgrades in the works during an update on the US$74 billion SpaceX business.
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China launches world’s first 6G satellite into orbit
The company is set to launch a new version of Starlink’s satellites next year that will have inter-satellite laser links to help them cover polar regions. Its engineers are developing a new ground terminal to stem losses: the dishes customers are currently installing on rooftops cost more than US$1,000 to make but only retail for half that, he said.
SpaceX is also planning an orbital flight of its giant Starship rocket “in the next few months” he said.