What is Starlink? Starlink is a plan by SpaceX to put 12,000 satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) that offer high-speed, low-latency, cheap internet access to anyone anywhere on the planet. That’s the end-game. All you would need to use Starlink is a $200 pizza box-sized receiver. Each satellite will talk to four others using lasers as they constantly orbit Earth, together creating a web of Ku-band and Ka-band broadband connectivity as fast as the speed of light that surrounds the planet at all times, and for all locations. In order to beam connectivity to the surface, a massive network of ground-based stations will also be necessary. So although 12,000 satellites sounds like a lot, it's only a fraction of the infrastructure that SpaceX will have to construct. Starlink will happen in phases, but the ultimate goal is to have about 8,000 satellites orbiting just 500km above the planet, and the remaining 4,000 orbiting much higher up, at around 1,200km. Starlink will mean launching 12,000 satellites into orbit (Image credit: SpaceX) How many people are currently using Starlink? According to a recent FCC filing, over 10,000 people have enrolled in the public beta test which launched last year. This number accounts for users across the US, Canada, and the UK. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. The filing’s objective is to have Starlink designated as an eligible telecommunications carrier. This would allow SpaceX to access millions in funding from the Rural Digital Opportunity and increase the reach of its coverage. The satellite broadband sector is getting competitive (Image credit: OneWeb) How good is Starlink’s internet? In the same FCC filing where we are told about the number of users, we also learned some stats for the service. For a service that’s still only in beta, they aren’t half-bad. Users are achieving decent internet speeds, with download speeds of 100 Mbps (megabits per second) and upload speeds of 20 Mbps. Latency is at or below 31 milliseconds, based on 95% of measurements. These will obviously be more favorable views of the company’s current capabilities, and a fair distance away from the 10 Gbps Starlink hopes to achieve, but they show that ‘space internet’ is definitely a viable option in the industry, and that’s only at one-twelfth of the planned satellites!