Skip to main content

SpaceX’s Starlink internet service expands to more countries

As SpaceX’s constellation of small Starlink internet satellites continues to grow, so does the company’s broadband service

Already available in parts of the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. with broadband beamed from space, SpaceX has just revealed that the service, which is currently in beta, will launch in western Germany and New Zealand’s South Island in the coming weeks.

Coverage will also be expanded beyond southern England to northern England, and also to parts of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Announcing the news via Reddit, SpaceX said you can check service availability in your region by visiting starlink.com and entering your address. “If Starlink is not yet available in your area, you can place a deposit to hold your space in line for future service,” the company said, adding that all orders are first-come, first served.

Starlink customers in the U.S. are asked to make a one-off payment of $549 ($499 for the hardware and $50 for shipping and handling), plus $99 a month for the internet service. New customers signing up in other countries will be required to pay around the same amount.

Current customers, of which there are currently more than 10,000, are currently receiving speeds of around 100 megabits per second (Mbps) as part of the beta service, though this should increase to 300 Mbps later this year.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk recently pointed out that while many people may not be receiving the kind of high-speed service that some folks are already enjoying, it’s a clear improvement on the kind of speeds experienced by many people living in the low-to-medium population density areas that Starlink is aiming to reach.

SpaceX deployed its first Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit in 2019 and now has around 1,200 in space, with more being launched all the time.

With its satellite constellation continuing to grow, the California-based company is working toward blanketing Earth in broadband connectivity, beaming down affordable and reliable internet from space, with a particular focus on communities in remote areas that at the moment have little or no access to reliable internet services.

Musk believes Starlink could generate as much as $50 billion in annual revenue if the service — once it emerges from beta and becomes more widely available — is able to secure even just a few percent of the global telecommunications market.

News of Starlink’s expansion to more countries came just a few days after Musk revealed that besides homes, Starlink is also hoping to beam broadband to aircraft, ships, large trucks, and RVs, though not cars as the required equipment isn’t yet compact enough.

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
SpaceX says it could fly Starship on Friday, but it depends on one thing
The Starship, comprising the first-stage Super Heavy and the upper-stage Starship spacecraft, on the launchpad at SpaceX's facility in Boca Chica, Texas.

SpaceX has said it could be in a position to perform the second launch of its next-generation Starship rocket this Friday, though it added that it can only happen once it’s received the nod from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

“Starship preparing to launch as early as November 17, pending final regulatory approval," SpaceX said in a recent post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Read more
Watch this unique view of SpaceX’s latest Starship rocket test
SpaceX tests its Starship rocket in a ground-based ignition.

As SpaceX continues to wait for the green light from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the second test flight of its mighty Super Heavy rocket, the company recently conducted a ground-based test fire of the rocket’s upper stage, called Starship.

SpaceX posted footage showing the brief test fire from directly above (bottom video), with one of the Starship’s six Raptor engines powering up for about six seconds.

Read more
Watch SpaceX’s most recent Starlink mission in just 60 seconds
A Falcon 9 rocket heads to space in October 2023.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1713620903094055361

SpaceX flights using its Falcon 9 booster are so routine now that these days most launches slip by with few people noticing.

Read more