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SpaceX’s Starlink service, which offers ultrafast broadband speeds to the UK and globally via a massive constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), appears to have leaked out plans for a new “Community” product that could allow multiple subscribers to share access to the service via a single terminal (dish) in return for a cheaper rental.
At present Starlink has around 8,100 satellites in orbit (c.4,300 are v2 / V2 Mini) – mostly at altitudes of c.500-600km – and they’ll add thousands more by the end of 2027. Residential customers in the UK usually pay from £75 a month ($120 in the USA), plus £299 for hardware (currently free for most areas) on the ‘Standard’ unlimited data plan (kit price may vary due to different offers), which promises UK latency times of 28-36ms, downloads of 103-258Mbps and uploads of 15-26Mbps. Cheaper and more restrictive options also exist for roaming users.
However, the provider recently updated their website to add a new and somewhat unfinished Starlink Community page, which initially included mention of a “1 Month Pass” with unlimited data that would set you back $60 in the USA (estimated to be about £45 in the UK or £54 if we include 20% VAT).
A related Support page for the new service (now removed), which was initially notified to authorised Starlink resellers and enterprise customers, added that Starlink would be “launching a new affordable way to deliver high-speed internet: one Starlink, multiple subscribers — each with their own Starlink account and seamless experience“.
The idea of a distributed community service is nothing new in the realm of satellite broadband provision (OneWeb has done something similar) and an earlier communication in May 2025, which was issued to Starlink resellers and installers (credits to PC Mag), suggested that owners of the main system might also be able to “earn commission for each subscriber“.
At this stage it’s not known exactly which type of dish Starlink would ship for this or if the main system host would be provided with a superior router / kit to help distribute the wired or WiFi signal over a wider area. Not to mention how capacity would be managed. Each subscriber would still need their own router in order to connect to the shared network.
Such solutions could be handy for serving large residential buildings (MDUs / blocks of flats etc.) or small rural communities. At present the initial launch, which doesn’t yet have a date, seems to only be targetting the USA, although new services usually make their way to the UK too.