Starlink, a global satellite internet service provider (ISP), now has 60 new satellites on-orbit offering satcom services. The new satellites were launched by Elon Musk owned SpaceX through the Falcon 9 rocket. In the process, the Falcon 9 has created history by becoming the first Falcon rocket to make 10 trips to orbit and back. The Falcon 9 is a reusable booster of SpaceX that recorded the 10th flight to orbit for releasing satellites into space.
SpaceX Launched Two Falcon 9 Rockets in the Same Week
As per an IANS report, this is the second time that SpaceX launched two 229-foot tall Falcon 9 rockets within the same week where each rocket was carrying 60 flat-panelled Starlink satellites for providing broadband services.
Starlink has been expanding operations very fast and is creating its own constellation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to compete with other satcom companies in the same field, including OneWeb and Amazon’s Project Juniper.
The aim of Starlink is to provide fast internet connectivity to different parts of the world through satellites. It is worth noting that Musk’s satcom company has already been offering pre-booking to Indians through its website.
Starlink’s website says that it will start providing services in India by 2022, and the connection is subject to availability. At present, only users living in select areas can pre-order the connection by paying an advance of $99 (roughly Rs 7,000).
However, the company has promised that in case the user doesn’t want the connection after paying the deposit/advance fee, they can request for a complete refund. Starlink has faced a lot of heat from the Indian industry bodies arguing that the company has no suitable license for selling its services in the country yet.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had said that it would personally examine the services offered by Starlink to determine whether the company has legal grounds of selling the pre-booking connection to Indians or not. Further, the DoT hasn’t event allocated frequency to Starlink for providing services in India. It remains to be seen whether the company can actually start providing satellite internet in India by 2022, or it is just speculation on Starlink’s behalf.
