It will be some time before SpaceX becomes fully operational on its space Internet. Although the system works with hundreds of satellites called Starlink so far only in beta, it is already showing in the United States how it can be useful and help in places where it is difficult to get another signal.
Washington, Oregon and California have been shrinking unprecedented fires since August this year, ruining 37 lives, destroying thousands of buildings and shrouding the famous Silicon Valley in darkness and ore for a few days. SpaceX has now placed its signal receivers from Starlink satellites in the first places where humans are gradually returning, showing how the “space Internet” can be used.
This is because signal receivers provide the ability to communicate even in places where there is no standard mobile signal or the Internet does not work. They were the first to be used by the Washington State Army and, according to the server CNBC he can’t praise.
Happy to have the support of @SpaceX’s Starlink internet as emergency responders look to help residents rebuild the town of Malden, WA that was overcome by wildfires earlier this month. #wawildfire pic.twitter.com/xUSQOjcT4T
— WA Emergency Management ???? (@waEMD) September 28, 2020
“We could also use this device in cases where we have major disasters. For example, earthquakes – in which communication can be a huge obstacle, ” she wrote The Washington crisis unit on Twitter, with the connection from SpaceX being sufficiently stable and functional.
For example, the receivers are already operating in the Washington town of Malden, where fires have destroyed 80% of buildings, including those that served a remote village to connect with the world. The idea of the entire Starlink program is to launch tens of thousands of small satellites into space that will cover literally the entire planet with an Internet connection, including places and situations where it has not been possible before.
More than seven hundred Starlinks are already in orbit, and although it is still scarce at full capacity, SpaceX was in September. capable of up to 100 Mbps download speeds in tests.
This is what the device for receiving a signal from Starlink will look like
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How he pointed out magazine The Verge, in documents for the Federal Communications Commission, Elona Muska promised that in the future it will reach download speeds in excess of one gigabit per second. However, it will need a whole constellation of 4,400 satellites
So far, mainly in the northern hemisphere
To make Starlink one of the fastest ways to transfer data, it will help not only the number of data, but also the new technologies that SpaceX has tested. Specifically, these are lasers that allow data to be transmitted not only between the Earth and the universe, but also between individual satellites.
Due to the location of the satellites, SpaceX is currently testing the connection mainly in the northern hemisphere, in the private beta phase, while a public beta should follow later this year. Candidates can apply on the space startup website, although leaked information says that for the time being, Musk’s team will focus on tests in North America.
Starlink, on the other hand, makes wrinkles on the foreheads of astronomers. Because hundreds of satellites reflect sunlight toward Earth, photos of the night sky devalue. SpaceX claims that it is gradually working to solve the problem.
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The Falcon 9 rocket launched another batch of Starlink satellites into orbit
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