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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said his company is making progress with its Starlink program, which provides low-cost, reliable internet around the world. Speaking to Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath on the People by WTF podcast, Musk highlighted the program’s international footprint.
The tech entrepreneur expressed optimism about the expansion of Starlink operations in India, which will be an important step in the company’s goal of connecting underserved areas globally.
Musk’s comments hint at a possible expansion of Starlink services in India, a market where there is high demand for better connectivity, especially in rural and underserved areas.
Musk said, “SpaceX is doing great work with the Starlink program, providing low-cost reliable internet around the world and hopefully in India. We would love to work in India. That would be great. We are now working with Starlink in 150 different countries.”
reliable connectivity
Musk emphasized that Starlink aims to deliver high-speed, low-latency internet to areas where traditional networks are unavailable or limited. The program uses thousands of low-Earth orbit satellites to provide worldwide coverage.
Low-Earth Orbit and Low Latency
Musk explained the technological foundation of Starlink, with an emphasis on low-Earth orbit satellites.
“They’re at an altitude of about 550 km, which is typically in low Earth orbit. Because they’re in low Earth orbit, latency is low.”
interconnected satellite networks
The Tesla CEO described the laser mesh that connects Starlink satellites, ensuring redundancy and reliability.
“You have thousands of satellites around the world providing low-latency, high-speed Internet, and they’re also interconnected. There are laser links between the satellites, so they form a laser mesh. If the cables are cut, the satellites can communicate with each other and provide connectivity.”
Starlink in disaster relief
Musk also highlighted Starlink’s role in emergency response.
“Whenever there is a natural disaster somewhere, we always provide free Starlink internet connectivity to the people. We do not take advantage of any tragic situation,” he said.
service in rural areas
The CEO explained that Starlink is particularly beneficial in rural areas where traditional networks struggle.
“In cities, you get these cell towers that are only a kilometer apart. But in rural areas, the cell towers are inefficient. So, in rural areas you have the worst internet because it is very expensive and difficult to lay all the fiber optic cables or have high-bandwidth cellular towers. So, Starlink is very complementary to the existing telecom companies.”
Limits in densely populated areas
Musk acknowledged that physics limits Starlink’s effectiveness in cities with dense local networks.
“Unfortunately, physics does not allow it. We are too far away. So, at 550 km, even if we try to reduce it, to about 350 km we can go, it is still too far. So it is not physically possible for Starlink to serve densely populated cities.”
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