Elon Musk brings Starlink broadband project to a back garden in Cork

Ireland's NSC chief confirms at Tech Fest that equipment has been tested in his garden in Carrigaline since January

The distinctive golf ball-shaped ground stations that transmit data to Starlink satellites passing overhead were first spotted at the National Space Centre in East Cork in March.

Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite broadband revolution has been tested in the back garden of a Cork home since the beginning of the year, it has emerged.

At it@cork’s Tech Fest event, chief executive of Ireland’s National Space Centre (NSC), Rory FitzPatrick, confirmed to attendees that Mr Musk's SpaceX's Starlink equipment is indeed in place, after months of speculation and rumour about the firm's plans in the country.

During his Transforming the Earth from Space talk for it@Cork, Mr FitzPatrick, who lives in Carrigaline, said: “The first Starlink test system in Ireland is in my back garden. It’s been there since January. 

"We took delivery of the ground stations on campus in December, connected them via Enet backbone in January, and fired up the beta test dish at home as soon as it arrived.” 

The satellite has been in Rory Fitzpatrick's back garden since January.

Ireland's space headquarters at Elfordstown near Midleton in east Cork had previously remained tight-lipped on speculation that it became another location for Mr Musk’s Starlink ground equipment, due to a non-disclosure agreement.

However, what looks like giant golf balls have been visible at the Midleton facility, a telltale sign for Starlink spotters all over the world.

The Starlink project has become a fascination among technology enthusiasts, with Musk's vision of dominating the fast broadband landscape in hard-to-reach areas.

Starlink says its satellites are over 60 times closer to Earth than traditional satellites, which results in lower latency and the ability to support services typically not possible with traditional satellite internet.

Latency is the time it takes to send data from one point to the next. Starlink claims that having its network of close satellites dotted throughout the atmosphere means better quality for the likes of video calls and online gaming.

As more satellites are launched, more ground stations are installed, and networking software is improved, that means data speed, latency and uptime will improve dramatically for users, Starlink has claimed.

Kerry’s remote Black Valley has also been the subject of speculation in recent months as a location for Starlink equipment.

It has now emerged that all Starlink customers in the current beta test are served through the NSC. 

This includes users in so-called “dead zone” areas like Knockawaddra, West Cork and the Black Valley.

These zones are areas where signal has remained elusive for traditional broadband services — precisely the kind of customers that Starlink wishes to capture.

Mr FitzPatrick showed photos and video of the Starlink installation at the NSC while talking about the potential for national broadband in Ireland, as well as discussing the future of Starlink and other space technology endeavours in transforming life.

The NSC is Europe’s most westerly teleport and Ireland’s only commercial ground station.

Opened as Elfordstown Earthstation in 1984, the €24m facility will celebrate 10 years of operation as the NSC this year.

The company provides commercial broadcast services, ground control support for satellites and spacecraft, academic research partnerships and space industry consulting. 

The NSC’s co-located Space Campus is home to more than a dozen Irish space startups and EU-headquartered space enterprises.

While the cost of joining the Starlink community is far more expensive than joining regular service providers, it may appeal to weary users in Ireland that have been waiting years to receive quality broadband in their area.

Beta users in the US had to buy Starlink ground equipment for $499 (€408) as well as a $99 monthly fee, while similar costs will exist in Ireland.

Mr Musk's SpaceX firm has long had ambitions for satellite broadband, with years of research and development of Starlink thought to have cost upwards of $10bn.

Launching 60 satellites per go, it aims to have almost 1,500 by the end of this year or early next year, according to space experts.

In a show of confidence in its exploits, SpaceX filed paperwork with the International Telecommunication Union for 30,000 satellites in late 2019.