SpaceX, one of Tesla CEO’s Elon Musk’s other ventures, has been sending Starlink satellites into space at a rapid pace, so far sending up 538 since May 2019. With the satellites, Musk plans to provide internet access to areas under served by current infrastructure (and the rest of the world).
With recent hints that people would be able to sign up as beta testers of the new service, Starlink has now updated their website to allow you to do so.
On the front page of the Starlink website, users are invited to enter their email address, postal code and country. Once the information has been submitted, you get a confirmation email stating that if you provided your postal code, you will be notified if beta testing comes to your area. Initial public beta testing will begin with higher latitudes, meaning Canadians have a good shot at being some of the first beta testers.
According to SpaceX, the Starlink internet service will offers speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second, with latencies around 20ms. At lower latitudes, that number could drop to as low as 8ms according to Musk.
Around 20ms. It’s designed to run real-time, competitive video games. Version 2, which is at lower altitude could be as low as 8ms latency.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 15, 2020
