Up to -22 degrees Fahrenheit, the Starlink dish can survive severe
temperatures.
With the addition of Antarctica, one of the world's most isolated
locations, Starlink internet service is now accessible from all seven
continents.
Starlink is now on all seven continents! In such a remote location like Antarctica, this capability is enabled by Starlink's space laser network https://t.co/c9HX0xrX0u
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 14, 2022
The U.S. Antarctic Program's scientists were "over the moon" to reach the
milestone, according to a tweet from the National Science Foundation, which
also noted that McMurdo Station, a U.S. research facility located on an
island just off the coast of Antarctica, had been testing out a Starlink
dish to provide more internet bandwidth.
The aerospace business responded by tweeting, "Starlink is now on all seven
continents," and adding that the ability is "provided by Starlink's space
laser network," which allows for fast communications between far-off
satellites.
In Antarctica, faster broadband speeds are now available.
People in isolated and rural regions will now have access to better
internet speeds thanks to SpaceX's Starlink, which has always aspired to
provide high-speed, low-latency internet to customers worldwide.
SpaceX received permission from the Federal Communications Commission in
2021 to launch 2,824 satellites in a lower orbit in order to offer
high-speed broadband internet services to individuals who don't have access
to them. The ruling, which was made last month, was affirmed by a U.S.
appellate court on Friday.
The research center, which houses more than 1,000 employees, previously
relied on satellite internet from other providers, and the broadband quality
had to be shared over a 17Mbps connection for the whole facility, according to PC Magazine. This is their most recent achievement.
Due to the Starlink satellites' "lower orbits," they can now provide
substantially quicker broadband. Business clients will be able to access
download speeds of 100 to 350Mbps using a high-performance dish that can
resist temperatures as low as -22 degrees Fahrenheit, while residential
users will only have access to download rates of 50 to 200 Mbps.
According to Peter Neff, a glaciologist and assistant research professor at
the University of Minnesota, high-speed internet might "transform the basic
experience of living in Antarctica."
Ground stations are not required for the space laser network.
SpaceX has already experimented with isolated areas.
SpaceX sent 46 Starlink satellites into orbit in July with the intention of
making them accessible to users by 2023. These satellites will provide
coverage for Alaska, northern Canada, Greenland, and the Nordic
nations.
51 refurbished relay stations were launched into polar orbit by SpaceX last
year from the Californian space base Vandenberg. Typically, Starlink
satellites rely on base stations on the planet's surface to get internet
data. However, it was the project's maiden flight utilizing "new internet
beacons using satellite-to-satellite laser communications connections to
save time spent relaying data through ground stations," according to CBS News, to an orbit near the Earth's poles.
According to data compiled by astronomer Jonathan McDowell, SpaceX has now
launched 61 Starlink rockets and more than 3,200 Starlink satellites into
low Earth orbit.
According to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, the company will begin launching
Starlink Version 2 satellites the following year that will be able to beam
service directly to cellphones. Musk and Mike Sievert, the president and CEO
of T-Mobile, unveiled Coverage Above and Beyond last month with the goal of
giving T-Mobile customers smartphone connection almost anywhere.
Starship, the enormous rocket-spaceship combination that SpaceX is
preparing to send people and goods to the Moon and Mars, will be used to
launch these next-generation satellites. Starship will be supported by
earnings from the broadband constellation.
