Yesterday SpaceX announced its Starlink service would start using its second-gen satellites to offer better speed and better capacity.
Starlink already has permission to launch 7,500 second-gen satellites. So far SpaceX has launched hundreds of second-gen satellites that are now ready to offer internet.
Not only is SpaceX planning to launch more second-gen satellites soon but also improving its remaining first-gen satellites. SpaceX is also hoping to use some of this upgraded technology for the remaining first gen-satellites it has yet to launch of the 4408 that the FCC approved.
“To be clear, while SpaceX intends to populate its Gen1 constellation with upgraded satellites, it does not intend to more rapidly de-orbit its existing satellites,” SpaceX wrote. “Rather, it seeks only to replace those satellites with upgraded hardware when those satellites reach the end of their planned operational period.”
Starlink customers may not see internet speeds improve today, but as more of these satellites go live, you should start seeing speeds and reliability improvements in the months to come. This comes as more satellites launch, the more customers they can cover, offering faster internet than the older 1st gen version.
Recently SpaceX announced plans to have a 1TB data cap on its standard Starlink plans. Now as of today, SpaceX has quietly removed its 1TB data cap and now offers unlimited standard data on its home internet service. These changes were first spotted by Nathan Owens.
Starlink also now lists its standard home internet service as 25 Mbps to 100 Mbps down and upload speeds of 5 Mbps to 10 Mbps. Starlink also updated some of its priority plans with new data plans.
It is unknown if SpaceX removing the data cap plans from Starlink is related to the new and more powerful second-gen satellites now coming online. For now SpaceX Starlink customers should keep there eyes open for better service.