Elon Musk arrived on the Indonesian island of Bali on Sunday ahead of the planned launch of Starlink’s internet service.
Musk will launch Starlink with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at a community health centre in Denpasar on Sunday. Denpasar is the capital of Bali.
The Indonesian government hopes Starlink will boost internet penetration and health services in remote parts of the country.
Chief investment minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan greeted Musk’s arrival by private jet at Bali’s airport on Sunday morning. He said the two will discuss several important collaborations.
This was according to a post on his Instagram page.
Communications minister Budi Arie said the satellite unit of Musk’s SpaceX has already secured a permit to operate in Indonesia.
Starlink obtained a permit to operate as an internet service provider for retail consumers.
Indonesia is the third country in Southeast Asia where Starlink will operate. Malaysia issued the firm a license to provide internet services last year.
A Philippine-based firm signed a deal with SpaceX in 2022.
Starlink is used in Ukraine. The military, hospitals, businesses, and aid organisations employ
Ukraine has urged SpaceX to act to prevent Russia from using its Starlink terminals for communications. These are in areas occupied by Moscow’s troops.
Musk said recently that Starlink is experiencing a degraded service last week. He added that the team is investigating the issue.
Musk in a post on X earlier said that Starlink satellites were under a lot of pressure due to a geomagnetic solar storm, but were holding up so far.
(REUTERS)
