Starlink satellites launched more than 60 “start service this year”

SpaceX, which has just successfully launched the first manned spacecraft of a private space company, has successfully launched 60 new satellites for Starlink, a project to build the Internet in space. Preparing to run an Internet Exchange point, which is already given ASN (Autonomous System number) required for Internet connection and relayed between Internet companies, is in progress.

The Starlink project aims to provide low-cost, high-performance satellite Internet access to virtually every part of the planet by launching 12,000 satellites in low orbit at an altitude of 1,150 km. The low latency and censorship-free Internet environment can be used anywhere on the planet, which is expected to have a major impact on the world.

First, the StarLink satellite was launched on May 23, 2019. Falcon 9, a spaceX reuse rocket. On April 22nd, the seventh launch was successful. In the last seventh launch, Falcon 9 had a problem that seemed to fail to return to the ground, but the purpose of bringing the satellite into orbit was achieved. Then, on June 4th, the 8th launch was conducted. There are 60 satellites launched this time, and it is a new type with a visor that protects the satellite from the sun. So far, all 480 satellites have been put into Earth’s orbit.

Starlink does not replace existing Internet providers as it is not intended to support high-density users. However, it can serve as an important space Internet exchange in the mobile sector or in rural areas where there is no fast line. Starlink v1, the current satellite version, cannot communicate with satellites, but Starlink v2 plans to support inter-satellite communication. It is said that the speed of light transmission is 30% faster than that of optical fiber, which enables faster communication because vacuum communication is possible. In addition, reduction of hop, which indicates the number of relaying of communication network equipment, is also pointed out as an advantage of Starlink.

In 2019, Starlink has already completed a connection to the upper Internet Exchange, which gives Internet companies the ASN required to perform communication. The service by Starlink is expected to start within this year. Related information can be found here .