Elon Musk‘s SpaceX turned on its Starlink satellite internet service for its first paying customer four years ago on Oct. 26.
What Happened: The company announced the anniversary in a post on social media platform X.
“Since then, we have connected 4M+ people, businesses and other organizations with high-speed internet all across the world, and for the first time 4 astronauts flying around it.” the company said, referring to the Polaris Dawn mission launched to space earlier this year.
The four-member Polaris Dawn crew was the first to test Starlink laser-based communications in space.
Why It Matters: According to data from astronomer Jonathan McDowell, Spacex has currently launched over 7,000 Starlink satellites into space of which nearly 6,000 are in operational orbit.
The company is currently launching its current generation of Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit using its Falcon rocket.
CEO Musk said earlier this month that internet speeds provided by SpaceX‘s Starlink on flights will "improve significantly" once the company starts launching the third generation of satellites.
The third generation of Starlink satellites, Musk has previously said, will be launched on the company's ambitious and larger Starship launch vehicle owing to their larger size. The new satellites, Musk then added, will allow for a 10X increase in bandwidth and reduced latency.
However, Starship is still undergoing testing and development and is yet to carry any payload to space.
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Photo courtesy: SpaceX
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