A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 58 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network launches on August 18th.
Photographer: Paul Hennessy / NurPhoto / Getty Images
Photographer: Paul Hennessy / NurPhoto / Getty Images
By Elon Musk Starlink’s satellite broadband system has received licensing approval for its user terminals from the UK communications regulator, paving the way for the billionaire’s business to enter another major market.
The authorization was granted in November, an Ofcom spokesman said 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 launch a super-fast global coverage of the Internet to connect users beyond the coverage of existing broadband networks, sending thousands of satellites into Earth orbit.
Starlink has already launched hundreds of satellites and began testing a beta service in North America. He’s part of the billionaire Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, which shoots satellites into space.
Approval paves the way for Musk to enter the UK broadband market, where it could compete with UK terrestrial internet providers such as BT Group Plc and traditional satellite companies such as Inmarsat Group Holdings Ltd., as well as OneWeb – the Earth orbiting satellite system saved from bankruptcy by the government and India telecomunications conglomerate Bharti Global.
Read more: Elon Musk’s new big 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 became “reasonably predictable”. The approval of the United Kingdom has been previously reported by Sunday Telegraph.
– With the assistance of Bill Lehane