Author Topic: SpaceX will provide Starlink Internet to a West Texas school district and rural community  (Read 353 times)

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Offline Elderberry

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TESMANIAN  by Evelyn Arevalo October 21, 2020

SpaceX is deploying a constellation of thousands of Starlink satellites that will beam internet worldwide. The company's goal is to provide broadband service to areas where internet is unreliable and unavailable. With a bit over 800 satellites already orbiting Earth, SpaceX will soon provide service in Northern United States and Southern Canada, then rapidly expand to the rest of America by next year. To receive broadband service from the satellites in space, Starlink users will utilize a dish terminal and Wi-Fi router that will be easy to install (pictured below). SpaceX officials state Starlink is capable of providing high-speed connection even to remote areas where internet does not exist.

The Ector County Independent School District (ECISD) located in the city of Odessa in West Texas, announced this week their community is participating in a program to help students and their families have access to the internet. The school district along with the Permian Strategic Partnership (PSP) will collaborate with SpaceX to provide broadband connection to the community, that is located in a rural area where traditional internet is unreliable and too expensive for locals to acquire --"Similar to other rural communities, many residents of Ector County have limited to no connectivity. This issue was brought to the forefront for the school district earlier this year when COVID-19 forced school building closures and nearly two in five students did not have access to reliable high-speed internet at home," SpaceX representatives wrote on October 21, "Starting in 2021, Starlink will connect up to 45 households in the community as part of the pilot program. As network capabilities continue to grow, it will then expand service to an additional 90 households in the school district."

The Ector County School District "is the first school district in the United States to work with SpaceX in harnessing its Starlink satellite constellation to deliver high-speed, low-latency Internet access for ECISD students," school representatives wrote. The first 45 families that SpaceX will provide Starlink internet to next year are living in the Pleasant Farms area of south Ector County. All families will be selected by the school district based on their location and needs. ECISD officials will be responsible for deploying the Starlink user dish terminals to their homes.

More: https://www.tesmanian.com/blogs/tesmanian-blog/starlink-texas-school