SPACEX announced a new tier for its Starlink satellite internet service – and it costs a jaw-dropping $500 a month.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced on Wednesday a new high-performance tier for Starlink’s satellite internet service called ‘Starlink Premium.’
2
The new service will provide a larger high-performance antenna and speeds of between 150 and 500Mbps (with a 20 to 40ms latency), which is up from the 50 to 250Mbps provided by its regular service.
Premium will also offer enhanced upload speeds of 20 to 40Mbps, which is nearly double what Starlink’s Standard offers.
Musk shared the announcement on his Twitter account, where he stated that the enhanced service “is twice the area of our standard phased array with broader scan angle.”
Musk also added on his Twitter thread that because the service can only “support a limited number of users in an area,” potential customers are advised to order early.
Still, this increase in performance does not come without an increase in price.
While standard Starlink service costs $99 a month plus a one-time fee of $499 for the hardware, Premium will set you back $2,500 for the antenna and a whopping $500 a month.
Most read in Tech
In order to reserve a premium dish, customers are also required to put down an additional security deposit fee of $500.
Premium, which claims to be free of long-term contracts, devoid of data caps and does not require an exclusivity agreement, is ideal for “small offices, storefronts, and super users across the globe,” according to the Starlink website.
Furthermore, the service is designed to withstand “extreme weather conditions,” and will offer customer support 24/7.
Starlink Premium is currently available for order, while deliveries are expected to start in the second quarter of 2022.
Musk has long stated that one of SpaceX’s biggest goals is to reshape the way people get internet service.
“We’re really talking about something which is, in the long term, like rebuilding the internet in space,” Musk said during a speech in Seattle when revealing the Starlink project in 2015.
Since then, Starlink has come a long way with more than 1,800 satellites currently in orbit, and another 40,000 planned to launch.
2
In other news, Apple has revealed a bunch of new emojis for the iPhone, including a pregnant man and two saucy symbols.
Experts have warned that future space launches could be jeopardized if “stupid” regimes like Russia don’t stop blasting the skies creating debris.
And the most popular phone since the millennium has been unveiled, with many shocked to find out it’s not an iPhone.
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The US Sun team?
