A day after ISRO’s new 2024 mission, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has also confirmed successful launch of its path-breaking Direct-To-Cell Starlink satellites. SpaceX’s trusted Falcon 9 spacecraft was used for the mission. These satellites are part of the mega plan to provide better internet connectivity to general public. If all goes well, soon, the general public will be able to use satellites broadband on their laptops and cellphones.
The mission aims to resolve the key issue of geographical hindrances that internet providers generally face, which challenges the smooth flow of the web services. In this January 2 launch, 21 satellites were sent from California-based Vandenberg Space Force Base into the low-Earth orbit. Out of these, six of them are specifically designed for Direct-to-Cell capabilities. On its official site, Starlink sums up the agenda of ‘Direct-to-cell’ mission. ‘High speed internet available almost anywhere on Earth,’ the tagline reads.
How Starlink satellites work?
According to the official Starlike site, typically, satellite internet services rely on solitary geostationary satellites positioned at 35,786 km above the Earth. This considerable distance leads to high latency, making it challenging to support activities such as streaming, online gaming, and video calls. Starlink, on the other hand, operates a constellation comprising thousands of satellites situated much closer to Earth, around 550 km. This lower orbit results in significantly reduced latency, approximately 25 ms compared to the 600+ ms experienced with traditional satellite services.
Why Starlink internet is important
What happens with Starlink service is that anyone who has the connection can browse web from any geographical location around the globe. For this, your telecommunications provider needs to have Starlink services. It will be very easily compatible with your existing mobile phone. This service is important especially for those areas where reliable web connectivity is limited or completely absent.