Elon Musk, Indonesian health minister launch Starlink satellite internet service for healthcare sector
A video presentation screened at the launch showed how high internet speeds enabled the real-time input of data to better tackle health challenges such as stunting and malnutrition.
“We are focusing this event on Starlink and the benefits that connectivity brings to remote islands,” he said, “I think it’s really to emphasise the importance of internet connectivity, how much of that can be a lifesaver.”
01:46
Look out Starlink: China is supersizing its rocket industry
Communications Minister Budi Arie Setiadi, who also attended the Bali launch, said Starlink was now available commercially, but the government would focus its services first for outer and underdeveloped regions.
Before Sunday’s launch, Starlink obtained a permit to operate as an internet service provider for retail consumers and had been given the go-ahead to provide networks, having received a very small aperture terminal permit, Budi Setiadi told Reuters.
SpaceX’s Starlink, which owns around 60 per cent of the roughly 7,500 satellites orbiting earth, is dominant in the satellite internet sphere.