SpaceX announced that their next-generation satellites would have up to 1 Tbps of bandwidth for downloading data, ten times more than previous versions.
And with a glimpse of the future, views from Starship entering Earth’s atmosphere were made possible by Starlink.
Soon, Starship will launch our V3 Starlink satellites, which will add 60 Tbps of capacity to the network per launch – more than 20x per Falcon 9 launch today pic.twitter.com/wgxU1Bpe1h
— Starlink (@Starlink) December 31, 2024
In their annual progress report, SpaceX provided new details regarding the Starlink V3 satellites. These advanced vehicles will be heavier and larger, so Starship will launch them into Earth orbit.
“Each V3 Starlink satellite will have 1 Tbps of downlink speeds and 160 Gbps of uplink capacity, which is more than 10x the downlink and 24x the uplink capacity of the V2 Mini Starlink satellites,” the report said.
In comparison, the V2 mini satellites provide a maximum of 96 Gbps of data download bandwidth and are launched into Earth orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket. The total capacity of the Starlink network is now approaching 350 Tbps.
These enhancements will allow SpaceX to provide subscribers with download speeds of up to 1-2 Gbps, compared to current speeds of 100-200 Mbps. The company also said that each Starlink V3 launch on Starship would add 60 Tbps of bandwidth to the network, more than 20 times that of the V2 Mini launches on Falcon 9.
A single Starship launch is capable of launching 60 V3 Starlink satellites. SpaceX vice president of engineering for Starlink Michael Nicolls said the V3 satellites would help significantly scale the network in the most congested regions, improving the ratio of uplink to downlink bandwidth and providing gigabit connectivity for users.
It is not yet known when Starship will start regular missions with Starlink satellites. However, the first test launch is scheduled for January 10.
Today, Starlink serves more than 4.6 million active customers worldwide. The report also said it had established a manufacturing facility in Bastrop, Texas, capable of making up to 5.5 million Starlink plates per year.
“In 2024, SpaceX manufactured and sold 3.9 million kits to customers,” the report states. To scale up production, the company will double the size of the Bastrop complex, which is scheduled to open in 2025.
Earlier we reported on how Kyivstar was introducing Starlink satellite communications using direct-to-cell technology.
According to PC Mag
