Starlink: From Elon Musk's Unrealistic Ambition to Global Service

Starlink - From a Far-fetched Idea to a Real Product

In January 2015, Elon Musk first expressed the idea of ​​building a satellite constellation to provide global Internet coverage. After making this idea public, many people doubted the feasibility of Elon Musk's ambition and called Musk's ambition "unrealistic".

In fact, Elon Musk has been nurturing the idea of ​​covering the world with satellites since the 2000s, and this is one of the reasons that motivated this billionaire to found the aerospace technology company SpaceX in 2002.

Elon Musk's ambition to cover the world with satellites for Internet coverage was once doubted and considered unrealistic (Photo: Getty).

At the time Elon Musk announced the idea of ​​covering the Internet globally with satellites, Google also deployed Project Loon with the goal of covering the Internet globally with balloons in 2013, Facebook also deployed Project Aquila to cover the Internet globally with drones.

However, Google and Facebook's projects gradually fell into a deadlock due to technological limitations and inability to optimize operating costs. Finally, Facebook had to stop Project Aquila in 2018 and Google ended Project Loon 3 years later.

Google once had ambitions to cover the world with the Internet using balloons, but this plan later collapsed (Photo: Google).

As for Elon Musk, despite the skepticism aimed at him, SpaceX launched the first two satellites of the Starlink project in February 2018, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. These were the initial satellites used to test the technology of transmitting Internet signals.

On May 23, 2019, the first batch of Starlink satellites, consisting of 60, was launched into space, starting the Starlink satellite constellation.

As of March this year, more than 7,000 Starlink satellites have been put into orbit, but SpaceX still has ambitions to launch nearly 35,000 satellites into space to provide global Internet coverage.

How does Starlink broadcast internet from satellites?

Starlink operates based on a network of thousands of small satellites flying in low Earth orbit (LEO), at an altitude of about 550km above the Earth's surface, much lower than traditional geostationary satellites, which typically operate at altitudes above 35,000km.

Starlink satellites operate at an altitude of 550km, forming a constellation to provide Internet coverage (Photo: Pinterest).

Starlink's low-altitude satellites help reduce signal latency, which Elon Musk says will help transmit signals at speeds comparable to fiber-optic Internet.

Each Starlink satellite weighs about 260kg and is designed to beam broadband Internet from space to Earth. To receive Internet signals from the satellites, users need to install antenna dishes provided by Starlink. This device will automatically orient itself to catch the signal from the nearest satellite.

The way Starlink works is that Internet signals from ground stations are transmitted to satellites, which then relay these signals to users' receiving dishes on the ground.

With a dense satellite network, when a satellite leaves the coverage area, another satellite will immediately replace it, ensuring continuous connection. Broadcasting Internet signals from satellites will help overcome limitations in terrain, obstacles, etc., helping users to receive Internet signals anywhere.

In 2022, SpaceX introduced the second generation Starlink satellite, which has a larger design with the advantage of being able to transmit high-speed Internet signals directly to users' devices without the need for a signal receiving dish.

However, up to now, Starlink's second generation satellites have not been deployed and users still have to use a signal receiving dish to use Starlink's service.

Users can easily install a ground-based dish to receive Internet signals from Starlink satellites (Photo: HTG).

According to SpaceX's announcement, Starlink's maximum Internet speed when downloading ranges from 25Mb/s to 220Mb/s and the speed when uploading ranges from 5Mb/s to 20Mb/s.

Average latency ranges from 20 milliseconds to 60 milliseconds, but can increase to 100 milliseconds if using Starlink in remote areas, complex terrain, or bad weather.

However, Starlink usage speeds vary depending on terrain, weather conditions, service packages, and number of users.

SpaceX said the company aims to increase Starlink's internet connection speed to 1Gb/s thanks to new generation satellites, but this is not yet possible.

Starlink satellite dishes can be installed on ships to provide Internet access in the middle of the ocean (Photo: FreeThink).

Which countries is Starlink available in?

Starlink first tested satellite internet in February 2020, starting in northern US states, targeting rural areas lacking high-speed internet.

As of March this year, Starlink has expanded its services to more than 100 countries and territories across 5 continents. In Antarctica, Starlink has also been deployed to support scientists in connecting to the Internet for research purposes.

Starlink has been deployed in Antarctica to serve researchers (Photo: X).

In Southeast Asia, the Philippines is the first country in the region to officially use the Starlink service from February 2023. Next is Malaysia (officially available from July 2023), Indonesia (from May 2024) and most recently, East Timor (available from December 2024).

However, the number of Starlink users in the Philippines and East Timor is considered low because of expensive service costs.

In addition, Starlink was also deployed in Ukraine to provide communications due to infrastructure destroyed by war. The service was also deployed in Tonga in 2022 to serve rescue and reconstruction work after the volcanic and tsunami disasters that occurred in that country.

Starlink once allowed Vietnamese users to pre-register for the service at an extremely expensive price.

In April 2021, many people were surprised to discover that Starlink's homepage allowed users in many areas in Vietnam to deposit to register for the service, with the announcement: "Starlink is aiming to cover your area in 2022. Orders will be made on a first-come, first-served basis."

Starlink once allowed Vietnamese users to pre-register for the service in 2021, but it has not been officially deployed yet (Screenshot).

At this time, many users in Vietnam, both small cities and rural areas, can sign up for Starlink service, instead of just in big cities. Users need to deposit $99 to "hold the spot" until the service is covered in Vietnam.

Some users in Vietnam who tried to transfer money to Starlink received a successful deposit notification, but Starlink did not clearly mention when the service would be deployed or how to receive the necessary equipment to use the service.

To use Starlink's service, users need to spend $594.3 to receive the necessary equipment, including an antenna dish to receive Internet signals from satellites, a WiFi router, a power supply, connecting cables, and a tripod to place the antenna.

Users will have to install these devices themselves, following Starlink's instructions, to be able to catch Internet signals from the satellite.

In fact, users in Vietnam can only make a deposit in advance to "reserve a spot" until this satellite Internet service is officially available in Vietnam.

As of now, Starlink has not been deployed in Vietnam and on the service's website, users can no longer register for Starlink services.

However, on the Starlink coverage map, Vietnam has been listed as "Pending regulatory approval", which shows that Starlink will likely be deployed in Vietnam soon after receiving an operating license from the authorities.

Currently, Vietnam is on the "license waiting list" for Starlink to deploy the service (Screenshot).

Comparing Starlink to Traditional Internet Services

The table below will compare the differences, advantages and disadvantages between traditional Internet services (fiber optic network, mobile network) and Starlink so that users can better understand the differences between these two types of Internet services.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/cong-nghe/starlink-tu-tham-vong-vien-vong-tro-thanh-dich-vu-toan-cau-cua-elon-musk-20250325122601236.htm