(Credit: SpaceX)
To offer gigabit speeds for Starlink, SpaceX says its next-generation satellites will each feature 1Tbps of download bandwidth for a 10x increase.
In an annual progress report, SpaceX teased some new details about the larger and more advanced "V3" Starlink satellites, which it plans to deploy through its upcoming Starship vehicle.
"Each V3 Starlink satellite will have 1 Tbps of downlink speeds and 160 Gbps of uplink capacity, which is more than 10x the downlink and 24x the uplink capacity of the V2 Mini Starlink satellites,” the company wrote in the report.
(Credit: SpaceX)For perspective, the current V2 mini satellites only offer 96Gbps of download bandwidth and have been launched with the company’s smaller Falcon 9 rocket. The report also notes that Starlink’s cumulative network capacity is currently close to 350Tbps.
(Credit: SpaceX)The detail offers a glimpse at how SpaceX plans on eventually rolling out 1 gigabit and 2 gigabit download speeds to Starlink subscribers when typically speeds have been closer to 100 to 200Mbps in the US. The company added: “Each Starlink V3 launch on Starship is planned to add 60 Tbps of capacity to the Starlink network, more than 20 times the capacity added with every V2 Mini launch on Falcon 9.”??
This suggests that Starship can carry 60 V3 Starlink satellites per launch. On X, SpaceX VP for Starlink Engineering Michael Nicolls also noted the V3 satellites "will allow the system to scale considerably in the most congested parts of the network, improve the uplink-to-downlink capacity ratio, and be able to deliver gigabit connectivity to individual user terminals.”
Still, it's unclear when Starship will begin actual missions carrying Starlink satellites. But the company is aiming for another test launch on Jan. 10.
SpaceX’s annual report adds that Starlink currently serves over 4.6 million “active customers” worldwide. The company has also established a manufacturing facility in Bastrop, Texas, that can produce an estimated 5.5 million Starlink dishes per year.
“Across all production facilities in 2024, SpaceX produced and sold 3.9 million customer kits,” the report also said. “To further strengthen its production scalability, SpaceX is more than doubling the size of its Bastrop production facility (opening in 2025).”