Starlink

Mozambique’s National Institute of Communications (INCM) yesterday announced the granting of a licence to the US-based Internet service provider Starlink, a SpaceX project. “The granting of this licence will bring enormous benefits to the information and communication technology ecosystem in Mozambique,” a note from the INCM reads. For the regulatory authority, the entry of Starlink, whose licence was scheduled  to be officially handed over in a symbolic ceremony in Maputo this Wednesday (23-02), will improve connectivity and reinforce the expansion of broadband in Mozambique.

 “The data transmission service being provided by Starlink will complement others available on the market, without replacing existing technologies,” the INCM note adds. SpaceX intends to create a constellation of satellites to provide low-cost broadband Internet services and global coverage.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Starlink’s parent company, has explained that, while most satellite internet services rely on satellites in orbit about 35,000 kilometres above the Earth, the Starlink constellation is much closer, at about 550 kilometres, which reduces data travel time between users and the satellites. SpaceX’s satellite internet pilot is currently available in 16 countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Austria, Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Poland and Portugal.

On February 4 this year, SpaceX sent into space a new group of 49 Starlink network satellites, to join the constellation of 2,000 broadband internet satellites built by the private company and already in orbit. However, of this set, 40 were affected by a geomagnetic storm.

SpaceX previously indicated that, in face of the geomagnetic storm, its team had instructed the satellites to enter safe flight mode, minimising the force of the drag and protecting them from the phenomenon. Based on a preliminary analysis, the company made it known that the increase in atmospheric drag at low altitude prevented the satellites from exiting safe flight mode. The affected satellites are expected to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere, disintegrating in the process.