Elon’s Starlink Satellite Internet Reaches Antarctica! Now on All 7 Continents

Starlink, the satellite internet division of SpaceX rocket company, is now active on all continents

Starlink satellite Internet division of Tech billionaire, Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket company, is now active on all continents. With the addition of the McMurdo Station in Antarctica, SpaceX says its orbit-based Starlink broadband service now reaches all seven continents. Starlink internet works by sending information through the vacuum of space, where it travels much faster than in fiber-optic cable and can reach far more people and places.

In a significant move of installing terminals at the most extreme locations in the world, the company tested one of its Starlink internet terminals at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Present Antarctica satellite internet is not reliable in rough conditions; it is a 17 Mbps link for everyone. But with Starlink satellite, the internet service will be better and not patchy. Starlink can offer a speed of around 50-200 Mbps. There are currently over 3,000 Starlink satellites in orbit, and SpaceX will continue to add at least a thousand more under its current license. These satellites have joined the 3,076 working Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit.

SpaceX's Starlink is now active on all continents:

Starlink will only be utilized for peaceful use. The company says Starlink is the first krypton-propelled spacecraft ever flown. The Starlink satellite network is primarily designed for people in rural locations that don't have access to ground-based telecommunication infrastructure.  The satellites can navigate in space, and deorbit at the end of their effective life. The SpaceX company's long-term aim is to launch an ocean of satellites to cover every possible corner of the planet by 2027.

Starlink announced its service availability in Antarctica, which ensures that the internet from the company is now available on all continents. It has an edge over other geostationary satellites that orbit at a much higher height of about 35,786 km from the earth's surface. Because of its relative proximity to Earth's surface, Starlink offers considerably fast signals. Another batch with lasers reaches orbit after the deployment of 54 Starlink satellites was confirmed by the SpaceX company.

The Antarctica Station blocks scientists from using Netflix and video calls, except for Skype or FaceTime sessions once a week at a public kiosk or mission-critical communications. As the round trip data time between the user and satellite decreases, it supports low latency online services more efficiently. Starlink satellite enables video calls, online gaming, streaming, and other high data rate activities that historically have not been possible with satellite internet.

Starlink has been active for a while now in Australia, New Zealand, and several countries in the Americas and Europe. Ukraine is one of the most notable areas that Starlink is operating in. Musk sent Starlink terminals to the country. The satellites are empowered with an autonomous collision avoidance system that moves the satellite with human involvement, mitigating collisions with other spacecraft or space debris.