By Abhimanyu Ghoshal | New Atlas News
SpaceX has launched 20 of its Starlink satellites up into Earth’s orbit, enabling direct-to-cellphone connectivity for subscribers anywhere on the planet. That completes the constellation’s first orbital shell, following a launch of an initial batch of six satellites for testing back in January.
The satellites were launched with a Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base on December 5 at 10 PM EST; they were then deployed in low Earth orbit. SpaceX founder Elon Musk noted on X that the effort will “enable unmodified cellphones to have internet connectivity in remote areas.” He added a caveat for the first orbital shell – “Bandwidth per beam is only ~10 Mb, but future constellations will be much more capable.”
That’s in line with Musk’s previous statement on the strength of Starlink’s service back in January. “While this is a great solution for locations with no cellular connectivity, it is not meaningfully competitive with existing terrestrial cellular networks,” he noted. However, the current 10-Mb bandwidth is a step up from the 7 Mb the initial test satellites managed at the start of the year.
“This is a game changer for remote, rural and tribal locations where connectivity is limited or non-existent.” -Shruti Gurudanti, Rose Law Group partner, leader of the firm’s space law practice, and director of corporate transactions
