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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 58 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband internet network will be launched on August 18.
Photographer: Paul Hennessy / NurPhoto / Getty Images
Photographer: Paul Hennessy / NurPhoto / Getty Images
Elon Musk’s The Starlink satellite broadband system has received license approval for its user terminals from the UK’s communications regulator, paving the way for the billionaire’s company to enter another major market.
The clearance was granted in November, an Ofcom spokesperson said via email on Saturday. Greece, Germany and Australia have also approved the new system, according to local reports.
Musk – now the richest man in the world – aims to deploy global ultra-fast internet coverage to connect users beyond the reach of existing broadband networks by sending thousands of satellites into low earth orbit.
Starlink has already launched hundreds of satellites and started testing beta service in North America. It’s part of the billionaire Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, which shoots satellites into space.
The approval paves the way for Musk’s company to enter the UK broadband market where it could compete with UK terrestrial internet providers like BT Group Plc and traditional satellite companies like Inmarsat Group Holdings Ltd., as well as OneWeb – the low Earth orbit satellite system saved from bankruptcy by government and India telecoms conglomerate Bharti Global.
Read more: Elon Musk’s Big New Thing is 40,000 Broadband Satellites
Musk said in December that Starlink would likely be a candidate for an initial public offering once its revenue growth becomes “reasonably foreseeable.” British approval was reported earlier by the Sunday Telegraph Journal.
– With the help of Bill Lehane
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