The Billionaire Elon Musk all set to invest $30 billion to keep Starlink in orbit. It is currently operating in about a dozen countries and has just over 69,000 active users.
Starlink, an array of low-orbit satellites offering high-speed, low-latency connectivity, is already offering a trial service and aims to cover the world, except for the north and south poles, starting in August, Musk said.
It has more than 1,500 satellites aloft and is operating in about a dozen countries, adding more every month, with Musk forecasting that total customer numbers would reach half a million over the next 12 months, from 69,000 now.
Some analysts question whether satellite internet can be a viable business model because it mainly targets remote areas, where there may not be enough people able to pay the high tariffs needed to recoup the investment costs.
Musk said he was talking to possible partners as a number of countries require operators to provide rural coverage as conditions of their 5G licences.
Starlink faces competition from a number of players including Amazon.com Inc subsidiary Kuiper, OneWeb – a collapsed satellite operator rescued by the British government and India’s Bharti Group
About Starlink
It is a satellite internet constellation which is being constructed by SpaceX which provides satellite internet access.
The constellation will consist of thousands of mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), which communicate with designated ground transceivers.
The satellite development, manufacturing and orbit control teams is based in Washington.
