The latency rate was low enough to allow users to play “the most dynamic online multiplayer games,” she said, and the download speed was sufficient for streaming multiple HD videos, as well as saving portions of the channel for other needs.

While the performance of the Starlink system looks impressive already during beta testing, SpaceX intends to make it even more powerful over time. Not so long ago, the company’s engineers completed the creation of the first inter-satellite communication link between Starlink devices. Its use makes it possible to transfer hundreds of gigabytes of data between satellites using an optical laser at a speed exceeding the capabilities of currently available analogs. This data transfer is one of the benefits of the Starlink network, which will be used to maintain connections in Earth’s orbit.   

It was also said that currently only SpaceX employees are participating in the beta testing of Starlink, but at the end of this year the program will become publicly available and regions will be announced where residents can join this process.

People who live in remote and inaccessible places most often use traditional satellite or mobile Internet, the quality of coverage and data transfer speed of which leaves much to be desired. The results shown by Starlink during the beta testing stage already significantly exceed the capabilities of many existing Internet services. SpaceX’s goal is to form a constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit, which will transmit the signal much closer to Earth than is the case with geostationary vehicles used by traditional satellite providers.