SpaceX is gearing up to make its Starlink satellite internet service more accessible and affordable with a new offering called Starlink Community. This new plan will allow multiple users to share a single Starlink dish, each with their own account and seamless internet experience.
The company quietly unveiled details about Starlink Community on a support page for authorized resellers. According to SpaceX, the Community model will enable users to connect via their own Wi-Fi routers to a shared dish, unlike the standard setup where one terminal is tied to a single subscriber. Community Hosts will be responsible for acquiring, installing, and maintaining Starlink kits, as well as onboarding Community Subscribers. Hosts can even earn commissions for bringing on new subscribers.
The upcoming plan was first discovered in Canada by Jianping Pan, a computer science professor at the University of Victoria. While it is expected to launch in the U.S. and Canada eventually, Pan suggests that Starlink Community is primarily aimed at international markets to drive growth by offering lower-cost internet access.
By sharing a communal Starlink dish, users can benefit from reduced upfront hardware costs and a lower monthly subscription fee. The Community plan is expected to cost $60 USD per month, significantly less than the current Residential Lite ($80/month) and standard Residential ($120/month) plans. Additionally, Starlink Community will also offer a Community Hotspot option for short-term access on a single device, although details on this feature are limited.
This move comes following other recent updates from Starlink, such as the introduction of direct bank account billing support in the U.S. and a detailed explanation of the network’s beam switching technology, which ensures terminals remain connected even with partial obstructions.
As of now, no official launch date has been announced for Starlink Community, and SpaceX has not commented on the program. Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting new offering from SpaceX.