Engineers at Elon Musk's SpaceX on Saturday laid out how they plan to improve the aerospace company's Starlink satellite-internet service — and said they were looking for people to fill some "hot jobs."
The engineers hosted an AMA on Reddit's Starlink community to answer questions about the company's Starlink public beta test, which is giving some users blistering speeds of more than 160 megabits per second.
The engineers said they were working on ways to reduce internet dropouts caused by obstructive branches or poles near Starlink terminals on the ground, but they didn't elaborate.
"We're working on some software features that are going to make this much better and, long term, the clearance you'll need is going to shrink as the constellation grows. So this will get much better!" they said.
They listed various roles in production design, product design, and software for the Starlink internet service and gave an email address for people to send résumés to. SpaceX is also hiring an antenna engineer, a manufacturing development engineer, and mechanical engineers, they said.
"Starlink is an extremely flexible system and will get better over time as we make the software smarter. Latency, bandwidth, and reliability can all be improved significantly – come help us get there faster!" the SpaceX engineers wrote.
SpaceX launched its Starlink public beta test on October 26, after introducing its private beta test in June.
How SpaceX is trying to make Starlink better
The engineers explained how they're hoping to improve Starlink, which involves a network of almost 900 satellites beaming internet service down to Earth.
"We update all of our satellites weekly, and push software updates to the Starlink dishes, WiFi routers, and phone app every couple weeks," they said.
In answer to a question about reducing the cost to produce the Starlink kit, the engineers said: "It's going well but this is no doubt one of the hardest challenges we're tackling and there are always ways to improve."
Their comments echoed SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk's tweet on November 2 that said that keeping terminal costs low was SpaceX's "most difficult technical challenge."
The Starlink kit, which includes a tripod, a WiFi router, and a terminal to connect to the satellites, costs $499, plus $99 a month for the subscription to the public beta.
The Reddit Starlink community so far seems to be impressed with the Starlink internet service. SpaceX has said users should expect speeds of 50 to 150 Mbps, but people have consistently reported download speeds faster than 160 Mbps.
The fastest speed recorded on a list compiled by the community was 208.63 Mbps, in Seattle.
Other Reddit users have posted pictures and videos of their Starlink terminals in high winds, deep snow, and freezing temperatures, reporting speeds reaching 175 Mbps even in extreme weather conditions.
SEE ALSO: Dozens of families in rural Texas will get SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet for free in 2021
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