New generation Starlink V3 satellites with a throughput of 1 Tbit/s will be delivered into orbit using SpaceX Starship

The new generation of Starlink V3 satellites will significantly expand the capabilities of Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellite Internet service Starlink, increasing its throughput tenfold, PCMag writes, citing a company report.

Image source: Spacex

Since the Starlink V3s are larger, SpaceX will carry them into orbit using the Starship super-heavy launch vehicle, which is still in the testing phase. The next test launch of Starship is scheduled for January 10.

In its annual progress report, SpaceX shared details about Starlink V3. “The V3 Starlink satellite will support 1 Tbps downlink speed and 160 Gbps uplink capacity, which is more than 10 times the downlink capacity and 24 times the uplink capacity of the Starlink V2 satellites Mini,” the document says.

By comparison, the V2 mini satellites have only 96 Gbps download throughput. According to the report, the total capacity of the Starlink satellite network is currently close to 350 Tbps.

According to SpaceX, each launch of Starlink V3 on board Starship will add 60 Tbps of capacity to the Starlink network, which is more than 20 times the total capacity added with each batch of V2 Mini satellites launched on the Falcon 9 rocket. that at one time Starship will deliver up to 60 Starlink V3 satellites into orbit. According to SpaceX Vice President of Starlink Engineering Michael Nicholls, Starlink V3 satellites will “allow the system to scale significantly across the busiest parts of the network, improve the ratio of uplink to downlink capacity, and be able to provide gigabit connectivity to individual user terminals.”