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SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet constellation has now manufactured one million user dishes confirmed the company's chief Mr. Elon Musk on Twitter earlier today. Starlink, which opened up its beta stage in 2020 has seen remarkable demand for its service all over the globe as users signed up in droves for satellite internet connectivity. During the same time period, it also surpassed its rivals that operate larger satellites in higher orbits by delivering faster internet speeds. Musk's latest reveal comes as Starlink struggles to scale up its network as SpaceX is limited in the number of satellites that it launches through the Falcon 9 medium-lift rocket.
Starlink's One Million Terminals Hint At Strong Future For SpaceX's Service As Demand Refuses To Falter
The latest bit in the Starlink world is SpaceX's latest launch which put another batch of satellites into orbit. SpaceX has built an aggressive launch cadence over the course of this year and surpassed the total number of launches it carried out in 2021. At the same time, the company is building its Starship next-generation launch vehicle in Boca Chica, which is crucial for the next phase of the Starlink constellation.
At the same time, SpaceX has continued to expand its business Starlink offerings, especially since it launched the service's maritime service. SpaceX used its own experience of Starlink connectivity on the drone ships that are responsible for recovering the Falcon 9 rocket. This revealed that not only did Starlink let the company bring down its internet costs by a whopping 70%, but that this was accompanied by an equally stunning improvement in data download throughput of 5,900%.
Since then, several maritime services providers have signed up for Starlink. The latest such announcement came earlier this week when Marlink, a European communications services provider for corporations announced that it had added Starlink to its portfolio of connectivity services such as VSAT and LTE.
Around the same time, SpaceX's president and head of operations Ms. Gwynne Shotwell made another rare appearance in Brazil, where she was joined by Musk virtually as part of bringing Starlink connectivity to schoolchildren in the Amazon region. SpaceX's president was in Europe before that, and perhaps it's no surprise that her visit was followed by Marlink including Starlink in its connectivity portfolio.
However, even though SpaceX has rapidly increased its satellite launch cadence in 2022, the number of satellites that the company launches on each mission has dropped. The number of satellites launched on each mission has averaged around 50 spacecraft, with the number dropping from the 60 odd satellites that were launched per mission last year until May when SpaceX launched the last first-generation satellite patch that was intended to complete the first orbital Starlink shell at an altitude of 550 kilometers and a total of roughly 1,600 spacecraft.
From then until today's revelation of one million user terminals being manufactured, Starlink has upgraded its satellites to include laser connectivity and introduced a newer dish for business users. At the same time, its download speeds in the U.S. have dropped, as users sign up faster in high-density areas when compared to the number of satellites that are available to provide connectivity.
Similarly, not only has SpaceX made some concessions at the FCC to rivals, but it is also currently convincing the Commission to keep the rules for the 12GHz frequency spectrum band unchanged. The firm is also seeking the regulatory body's permission to launch its second generation spacecraft with Starship, arguing that the rocket will allow it to quickly build out the constellation and allow for faster satellite deployment times.
