SpaceX: Our Second-Gen Starlink Satellites Have 4 Times More Capacity
Perhaps in a bid to placate customers irritated by recent Starlink price hikes, SpaceX is offering more details on its second-generation Starlink satellites, which the company says will feature at least “four times the capacity for serving users compared to its earlier counterparts.”
“This means Starlink can provide more bandwidth with increased reliability and connect millions of more people around the world with high-speed internet,” the company said in a Sunday tweet(Opens in a new window), which included the first official photos of the so-called “V2” satellites.
According to SpaceX, V2 satellites are designed to provide even faster speeds by incorporating “more powerful phased array antennas” capable of beaming internet data to users on the ground. In addition, the satellites will use the E-band radio spectrum “for backhaul” purposes.
SpaceX offered the details days after it increased prices for many Starlink customers across the US. Those living in areas with limited capacity must now pay $120 per month, up from $110. Meanwhile, subscribers residing in areas under capacity only need to pay $90 per month.
The company hasn’t explained why it raised prices, but launching and maintaining a satellite internet network is a pricey endeavor. But the increase comes as speeds for Starlink have been falling for many US subscribers over the past year. The likely culprit: network congestion. The satellite internet system has become oversubscribed across the country, resulting in degraded broadband quality, which has sparked SpaceX to impose a high-speed data cap later this year.
The second-generation Starlink network, which the FCC approved in December, promises to resolve capacity issues facing the system. On Sunday,
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