Elon Musk tweets 'Over 250k Starlink User Terminals'

     Elon Musk tweets 'Over 250k Starlink User Terminals'

What is a Starlink user terminal?

Starlink user terminal, often known as an antenna or satellite dish placed on the roof of a building for internet services. SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, provided an update on its Starlink internet service on Thursday, as it launched more satellites into space.

What company manufactures Starlink's user terminals?

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is the manufacturer and is currently accelerating the production of user terminals for its Starlink satellite internet network.

SpaceX's Starlink, according to CEO and founder Elon Musk, already has a large array of user terminals, totaling 250,000. The number of terminals will continue to rise, and Musk stated that in order to improve internet connections, Starlink will need to modify its ground stations and other services available on the planet.

Starlink and its consumers

Starlink is the company's ambition to create an interconnected internet network with thousands of satellites, referred to as a constellation in the space business. It's designed to bring high-speed internet to people all around the world. Around 1,800 Starlink satellites are currently in orbit, according to SpaceX.

The internet corporation wants to bring more user terminals to better serve people, and it's doing so by distributing and making its services available to the general public.

Starlink intends to provide connectivity at all times and in any location. Even so, the corporation would only be able to do so by using a satellite signal receiver or a router to deliver the connection from orbit to Earth.

It also aspires to service aircraft and boats by enhancing internet connectivity and allowing customers to stay connected at all times.

Given the $100 monthly subscription for high-speed internet on the Starlink service, if 250,000 individuals are now utilizing Starlink terminals, SpaceX would earn $25 million per month. That works up to $300 million per year, which is on the low side given Musk's claim of "over" 250,000 terminals.

Musk is most likely talking to the number of units created to date, but he could also be referring to the total number of units built.

After losing 40 Starlink satellites last week, SpaceX now has nearly 2,000 in space. The hard costs of a Starlink launch are in the vicinity of $15 million, meaning that launch cost alone per satellite is roughly $300,000, assuming 50 satellites per launch. SpaceX will repay that cost in two years at its current customer level, putting the hard cost of deploying the present Starlink constellation at $600 million.