Autoevolution by Cristian Agatie 6/14/2022
SpaceX to Turn On Laser Communications for Starlink Satellites, Reducing Internet Latency
SpaceX has already launched around 2,000 satellites for its Starlink internet service and is now prepared to take it to the next level. Elon Musk has announced that the company will turn on laser inter-communication between satellites to dramatically reduce latency.
“Play games wherever you want,” twitted Musk on June 10, after Youtuber TTTHEFINEPRINTTT shared his first impressions of gaming with Starlink on top of the mountain. Except it is nothing like that. Starlink service offers a decent download speed, but the latencies are horrendous for gaming. With 55-75 milliseconds of latency, you will surely get fragged in no time by fellow gamers with better latencies.
This was quickly pointed out by a gamer in Brazil who complained about the 100 ms ping time. As you can see below, Elon Musk promptly replied with the promise to activate “Starlink inter-satellite laser links” by the end of this year. This means the satellites will relay the internet signal much faster, not relying on the base stations to feed the radio signals from the ground. It should vastly improve signal latency, as light travels a lot faster in a vacuum than in fiber optic cables.
More:
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/spacex-to-turn-on-laser-communications-for-starlink-satellites-reducing-internet-latency-191180.html
