The SpaceX polar service is undergoing a new test at the McMurdo Station.
The Starlink internet service constellation from SpaceX is receiving a remote-service test at the highest level, as it is now being trialed by researchers at McMurdo Station in the Antarctic.
The service is currently viewed as having high potential for helping to connect the world.
Many look to Starlink as a way to ensure that people living in rural areas and in other communities that are underserved by technology will be able to gain high-speed internet service access. The SpaceX company’s broadband is now testing out that possibility by sending its connectivity to one of the most remote communities on the planet, the United Sates Antarctic Program’s (USAP) McMurdo Station research outpost.
“NSF-supported USAP scientists in #Antarctica are over the moon! Starlink is testing polar service with a newly deployed user terminal at McMurdo Station, increasing bandwidth and connectivity for science support,” tweeted the US National Science Foundation.
NSF-supported USAP scientists in #Antarctica are over the moon! Starlink is testing polar service with a newly deployed user terminal at McMurdo Station, increasing bandwidth and connectivity for science support. pic.twitter.com/c3kLGk8XBV
— National Science Foundation (@NSF) September 14, 2022
Both USAP and SpaceX have been celebrating the Antarctic internet service milestone.
“Starlink is now on all seven continents! In such a remote location like Antarctica, this capability is enabled by Starlink’s space laser network,” it tweeted in reply.
Starlink is now on all seven continents! In such a remote location like Antarctica, this capability is enabled by Starlink’s space laser network https://t.co/c9HX0xrX0u
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 14, 2022
SpaceX is not new to launching Starlink satellites, having already sent more than 3,200 of them into low earth orbit. Moreover, it’s not nearly done yet. The company intends to keep building its constellation.
Should everything go as SpaceX hopes, then it already has permission to send 12,000 Starlink spacecraft into its constellation. Moreover, the company has also applied to obtain an international regulator’s permission to add another 30,000 on top of the others.
Beginning in 2023, SpaceX intends to start the launch of its Starlink Version 2 satellites. Those models are considerably bigger and more capable than those it has already sent to orbit. The newer models will have the capacity to send service directly to smartphones, according to Elon Musk, SpaceX founder and CEO.
Late in August 2022, Musk had already started announcing a new deal between SpaceX and T-Mobile for a mobile internet service project they’ve called “Coverage Above and Beyond.”