Elon Musk says Starlink's satellite internet speeds will 'double' in 2021

• Elon Musk said Starlink's internet speeds will double data transfer times will drop later this year.
• The satellite internet provider currently has over 10,000 beta users, it previously said.

Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, updated followers on Twitter about the future of the company's Starlink satellite internet venture.

On Monday, Musk responded to a tweet from a new user documenting the experience of receiving and setting up the beta router kit, which was made available worldwide earlier in February.

Musk said the system's speeds will double and that latency will drop by the end of this year.

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—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2021

Insider reported last week that the current expected speed for Starlink routers is between 50 and 150 Megabits per second (Mbps). But some users have seen speeds well above that level, with one reported user going up to speeds as high as 215 Mbps.

Latency, a measure of the time it takes for data transfer to occur, is also expected to go down. On Starlink's website, the company writes that its aim is to create high-speed, low-latency internet that is accessible worldwide.

Musk added on to that vision in a subsequent tweet about Starlink's coverage areas: "Most of Earth by end of year, all by next year, then it's about densifying coverage."

"Important to note that cellular will always have the advantage in dense urban areas," he added. "Satellites are best for low to medium population density areas."

Insider reported last week that Starlink has already seen success in rural areas including in the Pikangikum First Nation in Canada. The pilot program, according to further Insider reporting, has 10,000 users worldwide.

And the ramp-up to global coverage is happening currently: SpaceX rockets were beaming satellites into orbit from Florida's Cape Canaveral as recently as last week.