SpaceX's Elon Musk Says Starlink Will Transfer Data Close To Speed Of Light

Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk recently made another explosive claim about the ambitious Starlink high-speed broadband internet services.

Supported by a constellation of low-orbit satellites, most of which are still awaiting flight, the futuristic Starlink will virtually work anywhere on the planet, or so Elon Musk has claimed on multiple occasions.

SpaceX

What Starlink offers

Currently, Starlink is in beta mode and is offering its services to a select few. Most internet users switch to better technology in hopes of more stable speeds that are also faster - and now, Elon Musk is promising lightning fast speeds, literally.

The SpaceX CEO said on Twitter that Starlink satellite service will offer high data transfer speeds - as fast as the speed of light!

Processing is not an issue. Lasers links alleviate ground station constraints, so data can go from say Sydney to London through space, which is ~40% faster speed of light than fiber & shorter path.

Also, no need for ground stations everywhere. Arctic will have great bandwidth!

¡ª Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 2, 2021

Also read: Elon Musk Says Starlink Internet Coming To India Soon, After Getting Regulatory Nod

With the laser-equipped Starlink satellites currently being deployed in Earth's low-orbit in phases, the complete operation could be functional within a year and will eliminate the need to rely on ground stations - one of Starlink's primary goals.

Reuters

Ground stations take a long time to communicate with satellites, which affects data transfers. Elon Musk claims that with laser satellites, the speed will be 40 per cent faster than what optical fibres offer right now - all this without any paraphernalia affixed on the ground.

What is the progress status on Starlink?

SpaceX hopes to launch 1,200 Starlink satellites over the coming months but is expected to face delay owing to industry shortages triggered by coronavirus.

Starlink was announced in 2015 and has garnered a lot of buzz since then. The company recently shipped 100,000 terminals to customers after launching the first batch of satellites in November 2019.

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Also read: SpaceX's Starlink Satellites Cause 1,600 Near-Crashes In Orbit Per Week

The company's beta programme offered a $99 (?7,200) per month plan to a select few customers in 2020. And so far, Starlink had shot up 1,700 satellites into space.

Looking forward to Starlink in India? Elon Musk recently announced that the process has been kick started and that he hopes to make progress after regulatory nods are received.

Would you invest your money in Starlink's high-speed internet? Let us know in the comments. For the latest in tech and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.