A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 58 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband Internet network is launched on August 18th.
Photographer: Paul Hennessy / NurPhoto / Getty Images
Photographer: Paul Hennessy / NurPhoto / Getty Images
Elon Musk’s The Starlink satellite broadband system has received approval for licenses for its user terminals from the UK communications regulator, paving the way for the multimillion-dollar company to enter another major market.
Authorization was granted in November, an Ofcom spokesman said in an email on Saturday. Greece, Germany and Australia have also approved the new system, according to local reports.
Musk – now the the richest man in the world: aims to deploy super-fast Internet coverage to connect users out of reach of existing broadband networks by sending thousands of satellites into low Earth orbit.
Starlink has already launched hundreds of satellites and has begun testing a beta service in North America. He is part of the billionaire Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, which shoots satellites into space.
Approval paves the way for Musk’s company to enter the UK broadband market, where it could compete with UK ISPs, such as BT Group Plc and traditional satellite companies such as Inmarsat Group Holdings Ltd., as well as OneWeb, the satellite system in low Earth orbit recently rescued from bankruptcy by the government and India telecommunications conglomerate Bharti Global.
Read more: Elon Musk’s new big target 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 predictable.” The approval of the United Kingdom was previously reported by the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.
– With the assistance of Bill Lehane