Where Americans are Using SpaceX Starlink Internet, Reveals Ookla Speedtest

Photo: PCMag

SpaceX’s Starlink is set to offer low-Earth orbit satellite internet to remote regions around the world, and even in its infancy, US residents are already using the service regularly.

In data collected by Ookla Speedtest between December 2020 and February 24, 2021, we can see that Starlink is already going to good use, especially in the northern parts of the US (via PCMag). The data included both where users are using Starlink’s service, and how fast the satellite internet is running county by county.

As has been echoed by Starlink head Elon Musk before, the data indicates that Starlink is most effective in rural, low-density, low-population regions – especially those that have limited options for satellite internet.

Despite this, a number of internet users in urban and suburban counties have also signed up for the beta version of Starlink’s service, especially in counties outside Chicago, Seattle, and Minneapolis.

Photo: PCMag

Because there is limited capacity for Starlink’s satellite constellation, up to 5 million US customers according to SpaceX’s current clearance, and with as many as 65 million households eager to use the satellite service, some have suggested that urban and suburban users may not be allowing the full breadth of rural users in the US to really get a taste of the service.

Nonetheless, Starlink is expected to gain more widespread user access in mid to late 2021, and it won’t be long before its services offer internet service all around the world – in fact, Starlink’s satellite internet constellation is expected to cover the Earth by 2022, according to Musk.