Elon Musk says that 'several thousand' more Starlink internet beta invitations will be sent out this week in the US — and that the service could reach Europe by February

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said Monday that "several thousand" more invitations for the company's Starlink internet public beta would be sent out in the coming days and that it could expand to Europe early next year.

Starlink's goal is to beam high-speed internet service around the Earth from a network of satellites. Some users in the public beta, which launched on October 26, have reported blistering download speeds of more than 160 megabits per second.

"Several thousand more Starlink beta participation invitations going out this week," Musk tweeted Monday evening.

SpaceX started testing the service in the northern US and southern Canada, where it has better satellite coverage.

In follow-up tweets, Musk indicated when other locations could get Starlink internet.

He said European countries would get access "as soon as we get country approval," which he estimated would be in February or March.

"This is required for each country individually, as no EU-wide approval system exists. Probably start receiving final (there are many steps) approvals around Feb/March," he said.

Florida could get access to the public beta in January, he said, adding that "lower latitude states need more satellites in position."

India can expect connectivity "as soon as we get regulatory approval," likely in mid-2021, Musk replied to another user.

The company has not said how many people are taking part in the beta, but it said this summer that nearly 700,000 people across the US had expressed interest in the service, CNBC reported.

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SpaceX said in an email on October 26 to people who expressed interest in signing up for the service on the Starlink website that users could expect speeds of 50 to 150 Mbps.

The aerospace manufacturer is charging $99 a month for a subscription, plus $499 for a kit with a tripod, a WiFi router, and a terminal to connect to the Starlink satellites.

Musk's firm has nearly 900 Starlink satellites in orbit. It has said it wants to launch about 12,000 satellites by mid-2027, though the final number could reach up to 42,000.

SEE ALSO: SpaceX's Starlink internet public beta is giving some users blistering download speeds of more than 160 Mbps, including in rural Montana

SEE ALSO: Starlink's satellite-internet public beta costs $600 up front, SpaceX says — and some users are dropping even more for better equipment

SEE ALSO: Dozens of families in rural Texas will get SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet for free in 2021

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