Starlink Started Accepting Pre-Orders for Its Satellite Internet

Residents of the USA, the UK, and Canada can pre-order Starlink satellite Internet subscriptions from SpaceX. For residents of some places, access to the Internet will start working even before the end of this year, but the company reserves the right to delay the delivery of the Internet kit for six months.

To pre-order, you need to make a refundable deposit of $99 on the official website and indicate your address. The Starlink satellite Internet kit, which will be shipped “on a first-come, first-served basis,” includes a terminal to connect to Starlink satellites, a tripod, and a Wi-Fi router. It costs $499, and the monthly subscription fee is $99.

SpaceX rolled out Starlink beta testing in North America last October. At the beginning of the closed testing, the Internet from Starlink showed promising results in terms of the Internet speed, and with each launch of satellites into orbit, the speed only improves.

By the end of 2020, Starlink download speeds exceeded 200 Mbps with an average speed of 50-150 Mbps. However, due to the satellite constellation's incompleteness, there are breaks of tens of seconds every few minutes.

Some users have already complained about the massive cost of Starlink services, but some say that they are ready to pay even more if the speed remains the same or increases, as it is especially convenient now as many people are still working from home.

Musk continued in another tweet: “Once we can predict cash flow reasonably well, Starlink will IPO.”

On February 4, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying the 19th batch of Starlink satellites. SpaceX already has more than 1,000 satellites in orbit. Its aim is to bring ultra-fast broadband Internet to the entire world through tens of thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit.