Elon Musk is a man with many big dreams: Tesla electric cars, SpaceX rockets, Powerwall high capacity batteries are the well-known ones. Musk has another big concept that maybe isn't so well known: launching thousands of satellites into low earth orbit that will provide Internet connection to vast areas of the earth and for ocean voyagers. On Feb. 22, 2018, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket that carried the first two prototype Starlink satellites for Musk's Internet service. Should Musk and SpaceX be successful with their plan and launch their Starlink satellites into low earth orbit, the result will not only be excellent 1 gigabit Internet connectivity for people in the developing world, it will also provide Internet to ocean voyagers at sea and in remote locations. The result is that voyagers could choose to stay connected in a way that wasn't possible before without a huge antenna and deep pockets.
The two small satellites, called Tintin A and B (named for a Belgian comic book character) were successfully deployed and will be tested in coming months. The plan is to make regular launches of Starlink satellites in the next few years and populate the constellation with more than 4,425 satellites. The system will reportedly be operational by 2024.
