SpaceX's Starlink internet service will come out of its beta testing phase next month, company founder Elon Musk confirmed in a terse tweet Friday.
Next month
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 17, 2021
Starlink is designed to improve internet speeds by sending thousands of small satellites into orbit, where they form constellations of flying routers that beam connectivity back to Earth. It launched in beta last October, and has built momentum throughout 2021 -- it apparently jumped from 10,000 customers in February to shipping 100,000 terminals last month.
CNET's John Kim signed up for the service at his home in California and tested it at a variety of locations in May. At home, he averaged download speeds around 78Mbps, and latency of around 36ms.
Locating local internet providers
SpaceX was aiming to achieve global coverage in the fall, company president Gwynne Shotwell said over the summer.
The company didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Musk's tweet.
Locating local internet providers