SpaceX to continue Starlink tests into next year, commercial service delayed

SpaceX will continue beta testing its satellite-based broadband service Starlink into next year, the company said late Tuesday, indicating commercial service would not likely be offered in 2020 as previously planned.

Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX, Elon Musk’s private space exploration company, has launched nearly 900 Starlink satellites to orbit since 2019 with the goal of offering high-speed Internet to rural locations globally.

Musk has said the Starlink service will be a crucial source of funding for his broader plans, like developing the super heavy-lift Starship rocket to fly paying customers to the moon and eventually trying to colonize Mars.

“At our current pace, we expect to expand our beta in a notable way very early next year, in the late January – February timeframe,” SpaceX engineer Kate Tice said during a livestream on Tuesday, before launching the company’s 16th batch of Starlink satellites.