500,000 Have Signed Up For Musk’s Starlink, But Will They All Get Internet?

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SpaceX simply hit a Massive milestone for its own Starlink online service, together with the company announcing that it’s now reached over 500,000 pre-orders.   That announcement comes just a couple months after SpaceX first opened pre-orders in February of the year, indicating the rural online service is off to a strong start.

Broadband internet access in rural America hasn’t been great. If a company like Charter or Comcast doesn’t operate in an area, people are usually stuck with DSL or satellite internet — both of which are much slower and more costly than options available in more populated niches. Starlink aims to be one of the few great internet providers for people in these parts of the nation, promising up to 150Mb/s download rates , low latency, and no data caps for $99/month. This is accomplished using SpaceX’s low-orbit satellite community, which makes the service much quicker and more reliable than satellite online services that came before it.

Related: Musk On Starlink Launch Date & Early Users Give Pricing & Speed Thumbs Up

During a live flow for the launching of its latest Starlink satellites, SpaceX operations engineer, Siva Bharadvaj, declared ,”To date, over half a million people have placed an order or put down a deposit for Starlink.” This refers to the current pre-order stage Starlink can be currently in, which requires customers to set a $99 deposit to secure their spot in line. Once chosen, they have to pay a one-time hardware charge for $499 and then $99/month for the service .  While 500,000 prospective users pales in comparison to the more than 26 million internet users that Xfinity has, it’s a notable achievement considering pre-orders have just been available for 3 months.

In light of the news, it is well worth reminding that Starlink pre-orders don’t necessarily guarantee a person will have the ability to receive the service.   When someone produces a deposit to get their Starlink pre-order, that”grants you priority within your region for securing Starlink Services when available.”  Furthermore, SpaceX states in its own Terms of Service that”Placing a Deposit Payment does not obligate SpaceX to provide you with the Starlink Kit and Services and does not guarantee that the Starlink Kit and Services will be available to you.”  Most people that pre-order need to be in a position to get Starlink, however, none of this is guaranteed.

A CNBC reporter brought this point up on Twitter, to which Elon Musk responded ,”Only limitation is high density of users in urban areas. Most likely, all of the initial 500k will receive service. More of a challenge when we get into the several million user range.”  Considering all the production delays Musk has had with Tesla over the years, it is not exactly encouraging to hear this SpaceX is currently facing uncertainty with Starlink. It seems like the pre-order process was mostly smooth sailing up to now, but as these numbers continue to grow, it is going to be interesting to see if Musk’s song changes whatsoever . 500,000 pre-orders really is a respectable amount this early on, but if Musk is currently warning of several customers not receiving their SpaceX service, what will happen as pre-orders reach 750,000, 1 million, and over? That all remains to be seen, but for right now, Starlink is off to a fantastic start.

Next: Musk’s Starlink Can Be Strapped To A Truck Or RV, But Not Yet

Resource: CNBC, Elon Musk

Article Source and Credit screenrant.com https://screenrant.com/spacex-starlink-internet-pre-orders-update-elon-musk/ Buy Tickets for every event – Sports, Concerts, Festivals and more buytickets.com

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