A remote native American tribe among the first to get connectivity via Musk’s Starlink internet project

Elon Musk’s Starlink has begun beaming internet connectivity to users. A remote native American tribe is among the first to receive satellite-based high-speed internet connectivity.

Starlink is essentially a constellation of satellites. Developed by Musk’s SpaceX, the constellation beams internet access to users. The objective of the project is to provide connectivity in remote areas where providing traditional internet connectivity is logistics and cost challenges.

The constellation will have thousands of small satellites placed in the low Earth orbit. As of October 2020, Starlink has launched as many as 775 satellites. The space company plans to launch 60 more satellites this year. Eventually, Starlink aims to provide near-global coverage by the end of the next year.

The Hoh Tribe in Washington State said that the Starlink broadband connectivity has helped enable remote learning and telehealth access, reports Independent.

“We’re very remote. The last eight years I felt like we’ve been paddling up river with a spoon and almost getting nowhere with getting internet to the reservation. It seemed like out of nowhere, SpaceX came up and just catapulted us into the 21st century,” Melvinjohn Ashue, vice chairman of the Hoh Tribe is quoted as saying.

It is worth noting that Musk’s Starlink is not the only company striving to provide satellite-based internet connectivity. Jeff Bezos’ Amazon is also working on a Project Kuiper.

Estimated to be a $10 billion satellite internet project, Amazon has already bagged an approval to proceed from the US’ FCC. Apart from providing basic internet connectivity, Amazon is hopeful its services will deliver high-speed broadband service with low latency. It will also feature backhaul solutions for telecom carriers to extend their current LTE and 5G services to new areas.