Elon Musk says nearly 100 Starlinks are active in Iran
-
Raven Ruma
- . December 27, 2022
- . Update: December 27, 2022 3:51 pm
SpaceX, Tesla, and Twitter CEO (Chief Executive Officer), Elon Musk, has said that around 100 satellite internet terminals, Starlinks, are now active in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
This comes three months after Musk tweeted that he would activate the satellite internet service in Iran amid anti-government protests. Musk promised to bring Starlink into the Islamic nation because Iranian authorities allegedly blocked access to the internet due to massive demonstrations.
On Monday, Elon Musk wrote on Twitter, “100 Starlinks active in Iran.” Musk announced the news in response to a tweet from another user. The Twitter user reportedly wrote on Twitter, “More freedom for women to choose whether they cover their hair or not.” His post was in reference to anti-government protests that swept Iran after the death of 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police custody. The protest started on September 17 across the Islamic nation.
Musk had said in September that SpaceX would apply for an exemption from United States (US) sanctions against Iran in a bid to offer its satellite internet service in the country. He reportedly wanted to establish the “free flow of information” to Iranians.
Read | Rivals US, Iran irked by China’s “Aggressive Maneuvers” in MidEast
Earlier, he announced that Starlink was made available on all seven continents, including Antarctica. In September, Musk tested one of SpaceX’s Starlink internet terminals at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Earlier this year, he also sent thousands of Starlink terminals to Ukraine after Russia invaded the country.
Starlink offers high-speed broadband service to people through a constellation of satellites in low earth orbit. It has over 2,000 tiny satellites orbiting above Earth. As per SpaceX’s website, SpaceX has also planned to launch Starlink Version 2 satellites next year.
More than 3,000 Starlink satellites have been deployed since 2019. The company has started using Falcon 9 rockets to speed up the deployment process.
