SpaceX's Satellite Internet Service is On Par With Ground-Based Broadband

SpaceX says its satellite internet service, Starlink, has achieved a latency under 20 milliseconds, which is on par with ground-based broadband.

Two benchmark tests, conducted by Ookla's Speedtest.net service, show Starlink achieving a 102 to 103Mbps download rate, 40 to 42Mbps upload rate, and a latency of 18 to 19ms. For comparison - the average latency for fixed broadband in the US is 25ms, while the rate on mobile networks is at 48ms, according to Speedtest.net. Interestingly, both benchmarks occurred on June 30, and in Seattle, Washington, at a time when SpaceX only had about 500 Starlink satellites in orbit. The company now has more than 700 satellites around the planet, which will likely improve coverage and data speeds.

​SpaceX is manufacturing about 120 Starlink satellites each month. Their goal is to launch thousands of them into space to enable worldwide coverage and download speeds of 1Gbps. The company is also "on track" to produce thousands of user terminals consumers can hook up their homes to receive the satellite-based boradband. In addition, SpaceX plans on gearing up for a public beta trial for users "across multiple US states."

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