Name: A Texas superintendent reveals how — and why — he got SpaceX to turn his rural school district into a Starlink satellite-internet laboratory
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A Texas superintendent reveals how — and why — he got SpaceX to turn his rural school district into a Starlink satellite-internet laboratory

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The words "Business Insider".Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.When it rolled out a big test of its Starlink satellite-internet project this summer, SpaceX decided to make Ector County Independent School District, a rural education system in western Texas, a vital experiment.Superintendent Scott Muri had been on the job less than a year when the coronavirus pandemic struck. Suddenly, all 34,000 students were out of school."We sent them off on spring break, and they never returned because of COVID-19," Muri told Business Insider.Like most school districts across America, Ector County's pulled together a remote-learning program with a hodgepodge of Zoom meetings and classroom apps. The city of Odessa, the county seat that's home to 120,000 people, was well-equipped to handle the surge in data use: It had two internet providers capable of delivering high-speed broadband to families across the city.But just beyond city limits, Muri said, students and teachers alike felt the pain from a dearth of modern internet infrastructure. Families were paying nearly twice as much for less-reliable and far-slower service, if they could sign up for any at all."We have families that have zero internet access. None," Muri said. "And we had kids that ... can only do audio in a meeting because they don't have enough bandwidth to do the video. We had kids that would pop in and out of classes, so they were there for five minutes and gone for 10."Muri said the district pursued an "all the options" approach to get students online, seeking out mobile hot spots and traditional satellite providers. But each had its weakness: Not every home was close enough to a cell tower, for example, and existing satellite-internet services have low throughput with high lag — a problem for interactive video and audio.&nbsp;But months before the pandemic, Muri had engaged leaders of Permian Strategic Partnership, a coalition of 20 fossil-fuel companies in the gas- and oil-rich region, about expanding broadband infrastructure."We recognized, as a school district, that the internet and broadband access is critical for the long-term academic success of our children," Muri said. "It's also important for our business community, the industries that we have in our area, and just the whole economy of our community."After someone at a member company of the partnership read about Starlink in the news, the firm approached SpaceX about connecting its remote oil- and gas-well equipment via satellite. Muri soon got word."They helped us make a connection to SpaceX," Muri said, "and one thing led to another."By early summer, Muri's school district was making deals with SpaceX. The company couldn't offer public service until 2021, Muri said — hundreds more satellites needed to be put into orbit — but asked if the district would enroll dozens of families in Starlink's forthcoming ."We said, 'Absolutely,'" Muri said.On October 1, SpaceX and the district finalized a Starlink , a copy of which Business Insider obtained (we've embedded it at the end of this story).SpaceX will provide up to 45 families with Starlink services for a one-year term, to start sometime in January or February, according to the document. Muri said he could add 90 more families once SpaceX is satisfied the first group is having a "successful experience," likely after a couple months.SpaceX also stipulated that only families without internet connection should receive Starlink, Muri said."They didn't want to have a family cut off from their current form of internet access, get the SpaceX service, and then we discover there are problems," he added. The county picked an area called Pleasant Farms area for the trial, which is bereft of internet options, and will reach out to candidate families in the next month or two, Muri said.The agreement's terms of service are relatively plain, save for a about recognizing Mars as a "free planet" where "no Earth-based government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities." (Muri said he found the part "fascinating," though "it didn't dissuade" anyone from signing.)SpaceX will charge $85 per month per family. Initially, Muri said, the company wanted to charge about $290,000 for service to up to 135 families, which would have yielded a monthly payment of roughly $180. On top of that, SpaceX also planned to charge each account $100 for mounting hardware and $1,000 for a Starlink kit. The in the kit is a user terminal, or satellite dish, which Musk has described as a "" that communicates with Starlink satellites flying overhead.However, a recent contract amendment cut the kit cost to $500 to be more in line with prices SpaceX picked for its public beta, which is $499 per starter kit and $99 per month for service."As they looked at the market, they've adjusted their pricing. And so our agreement with them was adjusted as well," Muri said. (Telecom experts have said they believe SpaceX spends far more to build user terminals than it charges for them, a subsidy .)After the Ector County school district publicized the agreement in late October, many news stories wrongly claimed SpaceX would provide the service for free. Muri said that misconception likely arose because the district plans to provide the service for free to families. Several charitable donations, including $50,000 from the nonprofit Chiefs for Change and additional funding from the Permian Strategic Partnership, will help cover the project's cost.Muri said Starlink would be no silver bullet for Ector County, so the district has raised more money to cover families' cable-internet bills and put up WiFi towers in underserved areas. He expects the district to receive enough funding to fully cover the Starlink bill, which should exceed $200,000 for 135 families, plus other initiatives to help student families.While high-speed internet "is mission-critical" for public education, especially during a pandemic, Muri noted Starlink is still in a test phase and that "these things don't always work out.""If it does, it's the right kind of investment to make. If it doesn't, then we'll pursue other avenues. But at the end of the day, we have children that have no options," he said. "If Starlink improves the level of connectivity even a hair, that is better than what some of our children have today."Muri said he expected a lot of media attention after , but hasn't minded."My hope is that it has brought attention to the need of our children, and not only in our own county but across the country," he said, adding a "digital divide" and disadvantages those with little to no internet access.He added: "The longer this pandemic rages on, the more our children are going to suffer academically."Do you have a story or inside information to share about the space industry?&nbsp;&nbsp;Dave Mosher, send him a Twitter&nbsp;, or consider more secure communication options&nbsp;.Something is loading.Do you have a personal experience with the coronavirus you'd like to share? Or a tip on how your town or community is handling the pandemic? Please email and tell us your story.Get the latest from Business Insider Intelligence on how COVID-19 is affecting industries.NewsletterA recap of all things electric vehicles, ride-hailing, airlines, and more. Sign up for Insider Transportation.Something is loading.It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options.

The words "Business Insider".Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.When it rolled out a big test of its Starlink satellite-internet project this summer, SpaceX decided to make Ector County Independent School District, a rural education system in western Texas, a vital experiment.Superintendent Scott Muri had been on the job less than a year when the coronavirus pandemic struck. Suddenly, all 34,000 students were out of school."We sent them off on spring break, and they never returned because of COVID-19," Muri told Business...

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A Texas superintendent reveals how — and why — he got SpaceX to turn his rural school district into a Starlink satellite-internet laboratory

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