WASHINGTON (Reuters) -SpaceX has started selling satellite lasers, which are used for speedy in-space communications, to other satellite firms, company President Gwynne Shotwell said at a conference on Tuesday.

SpaceX's thousands of Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit use inter-satellite laser links to pass data between one another in space at the speed of light, allowing the network to offer broader internet coverage around the world with fewer ground stations.

Shotwell, speaking on a panel at the Satellite Show conference in Washington, said the company as a supplier will sell that technology to other companies.

"We'll roll that out ... with our new Polaris Dawn mission coming up here this summer on a Dragon capsule," Shotwell said, referring to an upcoming private astronaut flight with the company's Dragon space capsule.

(Reporting by Chris Sanders; editing by Jonathan Oatis)