In just a few months, satellite internet has reshaped web access in rural Alaska

Across Alaska, on fishing boats and cabin roofs and conex containers, flat white antennas are popping up like high-tech mushrooms. They’re Starlink terminals, delivering new technology that in just a few months has started radically transforming internet connectivity in some of the most remote parts of the state. The company, a subsidiary of SpaceX, started sending thousands of low-orbit satellites into space in 2019, shifting the paradigm on internet infrastructure around the globe. Since late 2022 when Starlink internet became available in Alaska, thousands of residents have signed up at a pace that’s exceeding expectations, observers say. The Starlink signal isn’t perfect, they say. Its strength diminishes as more users compete for bandwidth. But it’s also gotten faster and steadier as SpaceX has added satellites to the system.