Elon Musk's SpaceX is adding a new feature to its satellite constellation that provides Internet access in remote areas across more than 30 countries.
Musk, also the CEO of electric vehicle company Tesla (TSLA), introduced existing and potential customers to Starlink Roam in a tweet.
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"Starlink now offers global roaming," Musk wrote.
"Starlink now offers a global roaming option for customers traveling to locations where connectivity has been unreliable or completely unavailable," SpaceX explained further in the tweet Musk shared.
Starlink explains how a big feature of Roam is a pay-as-you-go plan for its customers.
"Starlink Roam provides the ability to pause and un-pause service at any time and is billed in one-month increments, allowing users to customize their service to their individual travel needs," according to its website.
PC Magazine explains how Starlink works.
"It involves beaming internet data, not through cables, but via radio signals through the vacuum of space," the magazine wrote in September 2022. "Ground stations on the planet broadcast the signals to satellites in orbit, which can then relay the data back to users on Earth."
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The technology to connect to the Internet using satellites has been around for more than 20 years.
"In 1996, Hughes engineers applied satellite technology to transmit large files, drastically reducing internet download times from over an hour down to just 90 seconds," Hughes wrote on its website. "Soon after, HughesNet, the first national, high-speed satellite internet service, was born."
HughesNet is owned by EchoStar (SATS).
SpaceX's system improves on that technology, PC Magazine said.
"One of the main existing providers has been HughesNet, which relies on satellites 22,000 miles above the planet," it wrote. "SpaceX’s system improves on the technology in two notable ways: The company wants to use low-Earth orbiting satellites that circle the planet at only around 300 miles above the surface. The shortened distance can drastically improve the internet speeds while also reducing latency."
"Second, SpaceX wants to launch as many as 40,000 satellites in the coming years to power the system, ensuring global coverage without service dropouts."
