The initial reports of the malfunction were humbling, but the truth is much more positive. SpaceX, the company that built the constellation of satellites, had secured nearly $885 million in Federal Communications Commission grant funds at the end of last year. The constellation had already begun to pick up speed in 2021, and by January had surpassed the 1,000-satellites mark. As of this writing, the fleet has grown to almost 2,000.
But as more users start using the service, the speed of Starlink will eventually begin to slow down. Until then, the constellation is working to launch more satellites. In December 2021, SpaceX launched 52 new satellites into low-Earth orbit. In 2022 and beyond, thousands more will be launched. This is one of the reasons why the constellation will remain a threat for decades to come. As the satellites increase in number, they will begin to reach more Earth-synchronous orbits.
During the first beta test, a Starlink beta user lost internet service for nearly seven hours. As a result, he received an error message stating that the satellite dish was “offline due to thermal shutdown.” However, he was not able to access the internet for the remainder of the day. While this is not unusual, Musk was not able to resolve the issue and the network has been shut down for at least a day.
As the network grows, so will the speed. But the company is working hard to launch more satellites, and recently announced plans to launch more than 1,000 satellites in 2022. As of February 2021, the constellation of Starlink satellites will reach more than 10,000 in Low Earth Orbit. The company is also exploring the idea of putting in-flight Wi-Fi on passenger aircraft. And it is already shipping more than 100,000 units to customers in 14 countries.
As the network continues to grow, the speed of service will decrease. But for now, the network will remain available for as long as the satellites remain in low-earth-orbit. And, in the meantime, the company is working on launching more satellites to maintain its high-speed connection. And if this isn’t enough, it will take years and millions of dollars to reach the moon. The problem will be solved when there are more satellites.
In the next couple of years, the service will be more reliable and affordable. But the network isn’t perfect. In fact, the network isn’t yet in all areas, and the number of satellites will increase as the number of customers increases. But, for now, this should not affect the experience of the users. In the meantime, if you’re wondering about the reliability of the service, make sure you’re connected to the internet. It’s important to have an unlimited Internet connection!
The network has a limited coverage area. Although it’s still available in Canada and the US, it’s still not everywhere. In fact, the service is only available in Canada and the US for now. Hopefully, Starlink will be able to blanket the entire planet with a high-speed Wi-Fi signal in the future. In February, Elon Musk tweeted that he hoped to double the service’s speed by 2021. Then, in November, he reported that it would be at 300Mbps.
The company hasn’t released a formal explanation for the outage. It’s possible that the satellites didn’t work due to a faulty communication link. As the constellation grows, more satellites will be launched. The most recent launch delivered 49 satellites to space in December. There are now almost 2,000 Starlink satellites in the constellation. Currently, there are prototypes and nonoperational units in the network, which can hinder internet service.
As the constellation of Starlink satellites grows, more satellites will be launched into the sky. While this isn’t a good thing for the satellites’ performance, it is essential for their safety. The larger they are, the more likely they’ll slow down, and they will have to operate at a slower rate. This means that many of these satellites will be in low Earth orbit, which will slow down the network.