SpaceX: Starlink connectivity also on the Moon for future crewed missions

As we have previously written, the twelfth launch (Flight 12) of Starship has been postponed to 12:30 AM on May 23 due to a technical issue at Pad 2. Despite this setback, SpaceX has announced some updates, including the presence of billionaire Chun Wang on a mission headed towards lunar orbit in the coming years and a crewed mission to Mars. But that’s not all.

Thanks to the potential of the reusable Starship rocket in transporting payloads to deep space, SpaceX intends to create a network of Starlink satellites in orbit around the Moon, improving connectivity capabilities compared to the orbiters and Deep Space Network (DSN) stations currently employed.

The plan is to have Gigabit-class connectivity on the lunar surface available anytime and anywhere for future crewed missions, in order to connect inhabited outposts, rovers, and astronauts through the Starlink systems, with few modifications compared to what we are used to seeing on Earth.

According to reports, the satellites will use optical connectivity via laser to transmit information between the lunar orbiting units and between them and those in orbit around the Earth. This way, the bandwidth will be greater than what is available with 'classic' radio waves, transmitting more information simultaneously.

Thanks to the features of the Starlink satellites, it will also be possible to have real-time images of the lunar surface (not at the same resolution as dedicated orbiters) and a sufficiently precise positioning system for managing the various missions that will be present simultaneously on the lunar surface when the Artemis program takes shape.

NASA and the space agencies involved in the Artemis program will benefit from the potential of a system like Starlink in orbit around the Moon, while SpaceX will be able to rent this service (which will require little further research and development compared to the satellites already planned for Earth), generating additional revenue useful for its advanced programs, such as orbital databases, the growth of the Starship system, and much more.