American visionary Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet will also head to the Czech Republic. Starlink’s Irish subsidiary has announced it will launch on 1 September. The company, part of SpaceX, originally planned to launch its commercial services on Czech territory only in 2022.
Starlink is deploying satellites in Earth orbit to offer high-speed internet to people living in remote areas. It is already offering trial services and wants to have almost the entire inhabited world covered this year. The number of Starlink satellites in orbit exceeded 1 500 at the half-year mark.
But Musk’s satellite network will still have to get approval from regulators to provide internet service in each country. The September date may be the date for the start of testing. There is also the question of the timeliness of the dates on the official website, which talks about launching the service next year.
In total, Starlink wants to deploy about 12,000 satellites around the Earth at the cost of about ten billion dollars (214.4 billion CZK). It is now providing services in 11 countries in a trial mode. Musk said customers should reach half a million next year, up from just 69,000 now.
In May, the American visionary and technology promoter announced that the satellite network had received more than half a million pre-orders. The company does not expect any technical problems with meeting the demand.
According to Musk, the total investment in Starlink is expected to be in the range of $20 billion to $30 billion (CZK 428.7 billion to CZK 643 billion). Before the company achieves a significantly positive cash flow, initial investment costs are expected to amount to five to ten billion dollars.