(Credit: Vast)
SpaceX’s Starlink won’t just be serving users on Earth’s surface. The satellite internet system plans to eventually supply high-speed broadband to an upcoming space station.
US aerospace company Vast announced today that it will bring Starlink to Haven-1, a low-Earth orbiting private space station slated to launch in 2025.
Haven-1 will be equipped Starlink’s “laser link” technology, which can beam broadband data through space at speeds up to 100Gbps connection per link. SpaceX has mainly been using the lasers to expand coverage and decrease latency for Starlink users on Earth. But now it’s applying the technology for actual users that’ll reside in low-orbit.
The results promise to let the crew on board Haven-1 to connect their personal devices to the station’s Wi-Fi, with the speeds fast enough for video streaming and to help with scientific experiments.
“If you need to provide high-speed, low-latency, continuous internet connectivity on a space station in orbit in 2025, SpaceX Starlink is the only option,” says Vast CEO Max Haot.
The crew will also be able to use the Starlink access during “rest time,” enabling them to potentially play online games in space. In a tweet, SpaceX VP Michael Nicolls adds: "In space, connectivity will never be the same—the Starlink laser mesh provides fiber-like speeds in space with extremely high availability."
Both SpaceX and Vast say the partnership marks the first time a commercial space station will be outfitted to connect to Starlink, which is now serving 2.7 million customers. The two companies also reached a deal to bring Starlink to more Vast projects, including future space stations.
Although the partnership is unique, it probably won't be the last. Last month, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said the company is preparing to commercialize Starlink’s laser link system, which includes expanding it so it can be ported onto third-party satellites.