SpaceX’s Starlink broadband by satellite system has “more than 500,000” users made up of early beta-testers, actual subscribers and would-be subscribers who have paid the near-$100 deposit.

The confirmation of the numbers came just ahead of the May 4th launch of Starlink’s ‘Star Wars’ day commemoration. Even the launch countdown came with the comment ‘May the force be with us’.

It was SpaceX’s 13^th launch of this year and – now seemingly a matter of routine – the Falcon 9 booster made a textbook landing on the landing barge waiting down-range. The flight deployed 60 extra Starlink satellites and taking the number of satellite launched to almost 1,600.

Officially, Starlink needs 1,440 working satellites for its first phase in order to launch a comprehensive service.

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Categories: Articles, Broadband, Satellite

Tags: Falcon 9, spacex, Star Wars, starlink