Starlink

4th November 2024

Where Elon Musk has led the way with electric cars, he now leads the way bringing satellite communications to the masses. In 2002, he founded SpaceX, his Space Exploration Technologies Corp, with the goal of reducing space transportation costs, to enable the colonization of Mars. As well as manufacturing spacecraft and providing space launches, SpaceX developed Starlink, a constellation of multiple satellites that orbit the planet close to Earth.

The beauty of all these lumps of metal floating around the Earth (7,200 in total, of which 4,750 are operational … so far), is that they deliver high-speed, low-latency, high tech communications to remote and rural locations across the globe (currently 48 countries). For live tracking of satellite positions, websites like satellitemap.space provide detailed maps showing individual satellite orbits and ground coverage areas.

If this sounds so high tech and futuristic, as to be out of reach for the common man/woman, you’d be wrong. Without sounding like an advert for Starlink, the price surprised me. Currently, this is the map of coverage with the light blue areas available now, medium blue has a waiting list and dark blue is coming soon. Sadly, it seems that China, Russia and Iran are out of luck …!

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