Starlink arrives in Antarctica

The Starlink satellite internet service has finally arrived at McMurdo Station, meaning it is now available on all seven continents.

The National Science Foundation said that the USAP scientists are over the moon. A new user terminal at McMurdo Station is being used by Starlink to test polar service.

McMurdo, a major hub for climate science and geology, had a satellite uplink through a traditional provider. Competition is intense for limited bandwidth. Adding a Starlink terminal should help.

It is not like the traditional setup. The capability is enabled by Starlink's space laser network.

Since they enable high-speed connections between distant satellites, space lasers are cool. The ultimate goal of this test is to allow Starlink satellites to form a sort of mesh network that can connect even far flung locations.

Starlink on your yacht, so hot

Satellites are supposed to do that, but you do it just anywhere. Think about it: if you send a signal to a satellite in low Earth orbit above the South Pole, where will it go? It is not like other parts of the world. It needs to send that signal to a ground station that is connected to the internet. It goes back the same way.

Network architecture is not easy to understand, but it is.

Future versions of Starlink satellites should help the network be faster and more resilient. NASA is looking into using space lasers as a way to provide high-speed internet for Artemis, as it was the first to use them.