Many people don’t even realize that SpaceX’s Starlink is a big deal. In this article, we are going to discuss that.
If you live in a city, then, of course, you have high-speed broadband internet. However, people like us live in a rural area; we don’t have access to high-speed internet. Some people rely solely on cellular internet, and some rely on current satellite internet, such as HughesNet. Consumer satellite internet is useless. We know it because we use HughesNet.
For decades, these satellite internet providers ignored us. They don’t even try to give us a high-speed internet connection.
Millions of people in rural areas in the US don’t have high-speed broadband. In other developing countries, the situation is worse. It is where Elon Musk comes in to solve our problem.
Elon Musk first came up with the idea to provide high-speed, low latency satellite internet in 2015. Elon initially wanted to start this project to fund his Mars rocket project, Starship. However, this Starlink project will change millions of lives throughout the world.
Starlink will change a lot of industry in the coming days. A few of them are discussed below.
Airline industry:
We all know, the internet on the airplane is useless. It’s very slow, laggy, and expensive. It’s because all these airlines use geostationary satellite internet.
However, once the Starlink internet becomes operational worldwide, it will change the Airline industry if they use Starlink internet instead of geostationary satellite internet. We know the Airlines initially will be reluctant to change their onboard internet technology. It’s because we all dislike changes. However, once the benefit of fast internet becomes apparent, we are confident the Airline industry will shift its mind.
If we get fast internet on Airlines, we can use those onboard time doing various important works instead of just sitting and watching boring movies.
Boating:
Starlink is currently testing its satellite receiver on boats in the Washington state area. It’s a big deal. Now, most of the ships either don’t have internet or have crappy satellite internet. In the 2021-2022 period, once the Starlink becomes fully operational worldwide, boating in the sea would become more enjoyable.
Moreover, cruise ships, fishing boats, and other sea vessels will enjoy fast internet, which was unimaginable in the past.
Think about the GPS. Once upon a time, there was no GPS, but later the US government opened the GPS for the public. Now, various billion-dollar industries are being created relying on GPS, such as Uber, Tinder, etc.
We can’t even imagine how the fast internet will change the boating industry.
Internet in remote areas:
We live in a rural area. We can’t use the current HughesNet to watch Netflix, Hulu, or DisneyPlus. Uploading YouTube videos is impossible with the current speed. However, once Starlink becomes available, and tens of millions of more people in the US come online with fast internet, it will change many lives.
Moreover, developing countries, especially in remote areas, don’t have internet access. Talented people live everywhere. We have to give them a chance and some necessary tools to change the world — for example, Elon Musk.
Elon was born in South Africa. If he stayed in South Africa instead of coming to America, we are not sure whether he could have achieved this so much in South Africa. Probably not.
Genius people live everywhere. If more people come online, our rate of innovation will improve rapidly for sure.
Camping:
Who does not love camping? Each year we go on a month-long road trip. However, our biggest problem during this type of road trip is getting internet on the road. For example, in Yellowstone, there is no cellular or internet connectivity. Either you have to go to Cody or Jackson to get the internet.
We also have an RV community. Who travels all the time. They also face internet connectivity issues. Once the Starlink becomes fully operational in 2021-2022, campers will benefit the most from this fast satellite internet.
Future prediction:
You may think that we are crazy, but we believe Starlink will change our future in a way we even can’t imagine.
When the first mobile phone came out, it was bulky, heavy, and the charge did not last long. If at that time anyone predicted that our future cellphone would look like a tiny slab with a computer inside, we would not have believed it.
Technology improves over time. What is not possible today will become possible in the future. Who would have believed that an orbital class rocket can land autonomously on an autonomous drone ship in the middle of the ocean 20 years ago? No one. But now, SpaceX is doing that routinely.
In the future, Elon Musk for sure will include a Starlink receiver in his Tesla’s. As a result, not only will Starlink get millions of new customers, but a Tesla owner will also get high-speed broadband internet in their car.
Today’s technology is far superior to 50 years ago’s technology. Similarly, the way we are innovating, 50 years later, our technology will be significantly different than today’s technology.
Though today it may be impossible to design a Starlink receiver that fits inside a cell phone, we will not be surprised if Starlink develops a satellite transceiver after 20 years that is the size of a small chip. It will dramatically change our cellular connectivity.
It would be hard to catch Starlink:
We know many government organizations and private companies are now trying to create a satellite internet constellation similar to Starlink. However, most of them will either fail or will be expensive compared to Starlink. There are a few reasons for it.
SpaceX makes their satellite and uses their reusable rocket to launch those satellites into orbit. As a result, the cost per satellite for Starlink is very low. On the other hand, other private companies and government organizations don’t have satellite companies or rocket companies, except Blue Origin. Still, Blue Origin is years behind SpaceX in every aspect. On top of that, those companies don’t have a visionary like Elon Musk.
Current user satisfaction:
If you visit the Reddit Starlink community, you will find that all the Starlink users are super happy with the Starlink service. I’ve never seen a happy community who are too dedicated to a product except for Tesla owners. When customers love a product, that product sure will become successful. Customers always reward those products which they love most. iPhone, iPad, Netflix, YouTube, Google, Tesla are some prime examples.
Starlink is not public today. However, if in the future, either SpaceX or Starlink becomes public, invest in those companies. There will be thousands of naysayers who will ask you to not invest in SpaceX or Starlink. But please don’t believe them. There are thousands of people who hate Elon Musk and hate everything he does. Their short thesis is based on emotion, not on facts.
We know that Elon does not quit. He will try until he succeeds. Therefore, there’s no way Elon will give up on making this Starlink project successful.
Conclusion:
Currently, it’s not apparent how Starlink will change our lives. However, after five years from now, it will become evident how Starlink is a big deal for the world and the human population.