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"Private beta within 3 months, public beta within 6 months."

This is the latest timeline for the satellite internet business revealed by Musk.

Just this week, with the successful launch of 60 Starlink satellites, StarLink now has 420 satellites in orbit around the Earth.

According to Musk's boasting, their mission will be to replace optical fiber and provide the world with high-speed, stable and cheap Internet connections.

But this grand blueprint requires 12,000 of them - and the process is only 3.5% complete.

But why is Musk Musk?

He has a genius for innovation, the courage to break the rules, and knows how to prove himself through business success and accumulate greater potential energy.

Therefore, with the current 420 satellites, Musk hopes that the "satellite Internet" that he has been dreaming of can be used by some people first.

What kind of crazy idea is this?

Let's start with a brief overview of the Starlink plan—it's as ambitious as Musk's other projects.

As mentioned above, the core of this plan is that SpaceX will use the Falcon 9 reusable rocket to send 12,000 satellites into the orbital plane, and then form a satellite communication group to provide high-speed broadband services to Internet users around the world.

One group of 4,425 satellites will be located at an altitude of about 1,200 kilometers, while 7,518 satellites will be located at an altitude of about 300 kilometers and operate on different radio frequencies.

Such a large constellation of satellites will orbit the Earth in real time, allegedly providing broadband coverage anywhere on Earth at any time.

12,000 satellites, what does that mean?

This is three times the total number of satellites launched by mankind in history!

Musk is making such a big move because satellite internet also has huge returns.

The Wall Street Journal previously did the math for Musk: If everything goes according to SpaceX's plan, it is expected that the number of users of the service will exceed 40 million by 2025, and the annual revenue will reach 30 billion US dollars.

Moreover, the Starlink plan will show a distinct Musk imprint from the beginning:

There will not only be big business in the short term, but also a great sentiment for the benefit of all mankind.

Now, if you are reading this article, you may have no opinion on network connection.

However, according to the latest data from the United Nations, 57% of the world's population (4.2 billion) still do not have Internet access.

So SpaceX also said:

Starlink will provide high-speed broadband to areas where access is unreliable, expensive, or completely unavailable.

Moreover, once the Starlink project is launched, Internet access costs and speeds will be greatly improved.

How much can Internet access costs be reduced? It is still unknown.

However, as an alternative to optical fiber, it has obvious advantages in terms of price and cost.

The cost of laying ground optical cables in complex terrain is extremely expensive.

Just imagine, what does it mean to build optical cables across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Himalayas and in hundreds of kilometers of uninhabited areas?

In addition, Internet speed can also be greatly improved. If the signal goes through Starlink satellite, there will be an additional uplink and downlink delay, while the speed of ground optical cable is about 2/3 of vacuum optical communication.

According to the plan, 1Gbps can be achieved, which is 180 times the current average Internet speed.

By then, everyone will have a "tablet" (similar to a satellite TV dish) and can directly use the services provided by Starlink. Operators such as China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom will no longer make a profit from the price difference.

In short, think big, act big, the rewards will be big, and the impact will be even bigger.

The next generation of high-speed network connection may not be 6G. It seems that Musk’s satellite Internet will come faster and more powerful.

However, it must be said that when Musk proposed this bold idea in 2015, many people did not believe it.

It’s not that I question the capabilities of “satellite internet” itself, but the “shipping fee” for sending so many satellites into space is too expensive…

This requires a rocket, right?!

Unexpectedly, Musk's SpaceX not only solved national challenges such as rocket building and launch, but also achieved recyclability, greatly reducing the cost of rocket transportation.

That's why it was common to launch 60 stars in one rocket this week.

Although it wasn't the first time, the whole process was still very shocking.

I don't mind helping Musk broadcast it again with pictures and text.

60 satellites in one launch, every launch is still exciting

April 23, Kennedy Space Center, USA.

The third Starlink launch of the year, launched.

It’s still the familiar environment and familiar scenes.

With an order, SpaceX Falcon 9, carrying 60 Starlink satellites, slowly rose into the sky.

About 2 minutes later, the first and second stages of the rocket separated successfully.

The first stage of the rocket then landed on a recovery ship in the Atlantic Ocean as planned.

About 15 minutes later, the satellites were sent into an elliptical orbit above the Earth.

Finally, SpaceX posted on Twitter:

60 Starlink satellites were successfully deployed.

It is worth noting that during this launch, SpaceX used a lot of second-hand hardware, including the Falcon 9 rocket booster.

It has flown to and from space three times before, including last year on the Crew Dragon demonstration mission.

In the future, they will use their own thrusters to eventually enter an orbit about 550 kilometers above the Earth.

After launching 420 satellites, Musk doesn't want to wait any longer

420, Musk really likes this number.

Maybe there are some things you have already forgotten.

In the Tesla privatization tweet that caused Tesla to be deeply involved in SEC investigation and Musk lost his position as chairman of Tesla, Musk said that it would be completed at $420.

He later recalled to a New York Times reporter that he had never discussed this number with anyone else, he just liked it because it was auspicious.

Of course, later, because of the exposure of marijuana-related issues, the outside world also believed that Musk’s love for 420 might be related to marijuana - this is an international festival created by a small group of bad enthusiasts.

This time, what’s even more important is that Musk decided to launch satellite Internet when 420 satellites are completed.

And give a timetable:

Private beta within 3 months, public beta version within 6 months.

In other words, this groundbreaking idea proposed in 2015 will be initially realized within this year.

Awesome~

However, not everyone supports and looks forward to Musk's dream.

It’s not that I don’t have faith.

Rather, it is Musk's dream that blocks astronomers' view of the universe.

They have publicly complained before:

Satellite constellations blur the view of the universe.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station, for example, have photographed these satellites from the orbiting laboratory:

The satellite is rising higher above the fascinating aurora.

Not only that, the filming work on the ground was also affected to a certain extent.

Astronomer Scott Tucker from Tucson, Arizona, used a long exposure to photograph Venus on the evening of April 17.

In the photo, the satellite appears as a series of white streaks in front of Venus.

Other impacts may include: satellite reflections may seriously interfere with optical and near-infrared observations, electromagnetic radiation in the satellite communication band may pollute radio astronomy observations, and satellites may collide with space-based observatories.

Well, if Musk continues to do this, the brightest star in the night sky may be their satellite.

But Musk doesn't care about the concerns and opposition of astronomers.

According to his thinking and imagination, since rocket launches are so convenient, we should go to space and Mars to observe the universe - instead of following the rules and staying on Earth.

Musk's advice to teenagers

This kind of thinking is also expressed by Musk in the latest communication.

Just after SpaceX sent 60 Starlink satellites into space, Musk took time out of his busy schedule to have a video AMA with the American Teen Geek Club - Ask Me Anything.

He spent 2 hours answering questions from many geek boys and girls.

It emphasized that our past technological development was somewhat detached from the "atomic world", but manufacturing is crucial to human development and the future, so we should not only focus on virtual Internet innovation.

Attention should also be paid to manufacturing, especially the ability to use machines to make machines.

Musk also talked about the challenges of rockets - not designing a rocket itself.

Silicon Valley Iron Man admitted that if the difficulty of designing a rocket is 1, the difficulty of building it is 10, and the difficulty of building this production line is 100.

He encouraged young people to be the one who builds the "production line", think outside the box, think big, and solve problems fundamentally.

Musk has also repeatedly told the young people he interacted with to dare to think and act, to dare to question authority, and to dare to break the rules.

Don't limit your thinking to current values ​​or influence; reason based on the essence of the matter.

Of course, during this two-hour random questioning, many people were also concerned about Musk's ability to pursue multiple businesses simultaneously, the challenges of artificial intelligence, his views on technological innovation, and how to deal with his wealth after his death...

But what may be the most impressive is this sentence.

He can explain: How did Musk become Musk?

People are self-limiting. You just gotta believe in yourself, and try. You gotta try. People can do way more than they think.

in short:

Believe in yourself, and Try.

Believe in yourself, and Try.

Believe in yourself, and Try.