Tag: STARLINK

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Starlink Approval in India on the Horizon

starlink satellite

Musk had attempted to launch its satellite internet service in India before….reports Asian Lite News

Ahead of Elon Musk’s visit to India, the tech billionaire’s satellite-based internet service Starlink has reportedly received tentative approval from the Ministry of Communications.

According to reports, the approval procedure is currently on the desk of Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, awaiting final clearance by the Home Ministry on some security issues.

The reports also mentioned that the commercial part has been examined on issues such as foreign investment and net worth, and the technical requirements have been examined in accordance with the licencing conditions.

Once Starlink gets approval from Vaishnaw, it will be issued a Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) services license, which is required to provide satellite communication services in the country.

Musk had attempted to launch its satellite internet service in India before. The latest attempt was in November 2022 when Starlink applied for a GMPCS license. However, disagreements with the government over pre-orders without proper licensing led to the cancellation of planned satellite communication service trials in the country.

The government in December last year passed The Telecommunications Bill 2023 which allows spectrum allocation for satellite-based services without the need to participate in auctions. The move favours companies such as OneWeb, Musk’s Starlink and Amazon’s Kuiper.

Last week, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX confirmed his visit to India to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During his visit, he is expected to make a number of big announcements, including the launch of Starlink and investments in the country between $2 billion to $3 billion.

“Looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister @NarendraModi in India,” Musk confirmed on Wednesday in a post on X.

As per media reports, the tech billionaire is slated to meet PM Modi “in the week of April 22 in New Delhi”.

Musk, accompanied by other top Tesla executives, is likely to make an announcement about his investment plans and setting up of a potential $2-3 billion manufacturing plant in the country.

According to SpaceX CEO, the entry of Tesla in India, as the company scouts for factory land, will be a “natural progression”.

“All vehicles will go electric and it is just a matter of time,” Musk said.

As per reports, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are on top of Tesla’s agenda to start EV manufacturing and export the vehicles as well.

During his visit to the US last year, PM Modi had invited the tech billionaire to explore opportunities in the country for investments in the e-mobility sector.

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Israel Opens Skies to Musk’s Starlink

The Minister of Communications and the representatives of the company reached agreements regarding the entry of Starlink into the Gaza Strip…reports Asian Lite News

Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi gave the green light for Starlink, the satellite giant owned by Elon Musk, to operate in the country for the first time.

The Ministry of Communications said that this means the country’s local authorities, emergency departments, government bodies and more, will be able to “continue to consume advanced communication services with broadband, even in case of wired and cellular communication failures.”

In addition, the Minister of Communications and the representatives of the company reached agreements regarding the entry of Starlink into the Gaza Strip. Today the security officials approved the introduction of one such unit to a field hospital of the United Arab Emirates in Rafah. Starlink’s high-speed, low-latency connections will allow conference calls with other hospitals and real-time remote diagnoses.

The Starlink company, owned and operated by SpaceX, operates communication services that include broadband internet via satellites and independent of communication centers located on the ground. (ANI/TPS)

ALSO READ: Israel raids main hospital in Gaza

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Starlink to provide connections to recognized aid groups in Gaza

Following this, Musk made the announcement stating, “Starlink will support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza.”…reports Asian Lite News

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Saturday announced that his satellite-based communications system Starlink will support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza.

Musk made the announcement on his official social media platform ‘X’, in reply to a statement by US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, where she stated that Cutting off all communication to a population of 2.2 million is unacceptable.

She further stressed in her post that journalists, medical professionals, humanitarian efforts, and innocents are all endangered and the US historically denounced this practice.

Following this, Musk made the announcement stating, “Starlink will support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza.”

According to The Times of Israel, aid groups said that they are unable to communicate with their teams in the Gaza Strip after phone and internet services collapsed during Israeli bombardment as they intensified the ground operation.

Starlink, operated by Musk-owned company SpaceX, has also been deployed in Ukraine shortly after the country was invaded by Russia in February 2022, reported The Times of Israel.

After Elon Musk acquired Twitter last year and renamed it ‘X’, experts said that the platform has become not just unreliable but actively promotes falsehoods.

Earlier, X CEO Linda Yaccarino said that X has removed hundreds of Hamas-affiliated accounts, stating “There is no place on X for terrorist organisations”.

“X is committed to serving the public conversation, especially in critical moments like this and understands the importance of addressing any illegal content that may be disseminated through the platform. There is no place on X for terrorist organisations or violent extremist groups and we continue to remove such accounts in real-time, including proactive groups,” said the social media platform’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino.

Amid the ongoing conflict, last week, Musk said all Tesla Superchargers in Israel are free.

Tesla Supercharger is a high-voltage direct current fast-charging network built by American vehicle manufacturer Tesla, Inc for electric cars. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Gaza war deaths hit 7,703

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Musk’s Neuralink to start human trial of brain implant

Elon Musk.(photo:IANS/Twitter)

The study will evaluate the safety and functionality of the technology, according to a statement…reports Asian Lite News

Elon Musk’s brain-implant startup, Neuralink, said it has received approval from an independent review board to begin recruiting patients for its first human trial. The company is seeking people with paralysis to test its experimental device in a six-year study.

Neuralink is one of several companies developing a brain-computer interface (BCI) that can collect and analyze brain signals. But its billionaire executive’s bombastic promotion of the company, including promises to develop an all-encompassing brain computer to help humans keep up with artificial intelligence, has attracted skepticism and raised ethical concerns among neuroscientists and other experts.

Last year, the Food and Drug Administration denied the company’s request to fast-track human trials, but in May approved Neuralink for an investigational device exemption (IDE) that allows a device to be used for clinical studies. The agency has not disclosed how its initial concerns were resolved.

Neuralink says it is looking for patients with quadriplegia due to vertical spinal cord injury or ALS. Participants will have a BCI surgically implanted using a proprietary robot in a region of the brain that controls movement, with the goal of enabling them to control a computer cursor or a keyboard using just their thoughts. The study will evaluate the safety and functionality of the technology, according to a statement.

The company’s announcement comes months after it received regulatory approval for a trial. Its previous testing in animals is under scrutiny, after reports that trials caused unnecessary suffering. Former employees characterized tests as “hack jobs”, telling Reuters that in one instance, the device was implanted in the wrong position in pigs, leading to their euthanasia.

The allegations triggered several investigations, including inquiry from the Department of Agriculture into animal abuse and the Department of Transportation over mishandling of biohazardous materials across state lines.

The company did not respond immediately to queries about when and where the trial will be conducted, or how many participants it will involve. If its device proves safe for human use, it could still take decades before it is cleared for patients outside the trial.

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Musk activates Starlink in Iran amid internet shutdown

Protestors have been demanding basic rights of freedom and holding demonstrations against the mandatory dress codes including the compulsory wearing of the Hijab, reports Asian Lite News

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has deployed his satellite-based ‘Starlink’ service in Iran amid widespread protests in the country following which authorities had restricted internet access.

Iranian authorities had cut off internet access for many of its citizens on Wednesday amid widespread protests over the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody, according to reports.

On Friday, SpaceX founder Elon Musk had indicated that he will make Starlink available in Iran.

US State Secretary Antony Blinken earlier announced on Twitter aboout advancing internet freedom and the free flow of information for the Iranian people by issuing a General License to provide them greater access to digital communications to counter, what he claimed, was the Iranian government’s censorship.

Replying to Blinken’s tweet, Musk wrote, “Activating Starlink ….”

Protestors have been demanding basic rights of freedom and holding demonstrations against the mandatory dress codes including the compulsory wearing of the Hijab.

The protests in Iran erupted last weekend after Mahsa Amini died following her detainment by Iran’s morality police. She died a few days after falling into a coma while being detained on an accusation of violating a law related to hijabs.

It is worth noting that earlier this week, lawmakers from New York and New Jersey had urged US Treasury Department to grant approval if SpaceX sought licensing permission to make internet service available in Iran.

(Photo: Twitter – UN Special Procedures)

Lawmakers, led by Claudia Tenney of New York and Tom Malinowski of New Jersey, reportedly made the appeal to the Treasury Department, Fox News had reported. The letter came after Musk tweeted Monday that SpaceX would seek exemptions from sanctions on the country.

SpaceX has deployed Starlink in emergency situations in past, such as in Ukraine after Russia invaded and in the South Pacific islands of Tonga after a volcanic eruption. (ANI)

ALSO READ: Anti-hijab protests grip Iran

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Tech Lite

French court bans Starlink after legal battle

Arcep had granted Starlink two bands of frequencies that would link the company’s satellite constellation to France-based customers, the report said…reports Asian Lite News

Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service has effectively lost its frequencies in France following a legal battle waged by environmental groups.

The decision was published by the Conseil d’Etat, France’s Supreme Court for administrative justice, reports Teslarati.

According to the court, the recent Starlink ruling negated a decision by Arcep, France’s telecoms regulator, back in February 2021.

Arcep had granted Starlink two bands of frequencies that would link the company’s satellite constellation to France-based customers, the report said.

Since the decision to grant licenses to Starlink can “impact the market of access to high-bandwidth internet and affect the interests of end-users” as per the Conseil d’Etat, the satellite internet system should have carried out public hearings before its license was granted.

This was something that Arcep did not do.

Stephen Kerckhove, who heads Act for the Environment, one of the environmental groups that took legal action against Starlink, stated that the ruling is a way for the State Council to “send a signal to those who confuse speed with haste”.

Kerckhove also noted that he is hoping Arcep would not just go through a public consultation now for sheer compliance but “truly carry out an economic and environmental evaluation” of the satellite internet service.

ALSO READ-Musk’s Starlink terminals arrive in Ukraine

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Business Tech Lite

Musk’s Starlink terminals arrive in Ukraine

The satellites could keep Ukraine online if its Internet infrastructure is damaged by Russia’s attack…reports Asian Lite News

As promised, Elon Musk-run SpaceX has sent a truck full of Starlink user terminals to Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister, on Tuesday tweeted an image showing Starlink terminals in the country.

“Starlink – here. Thanks, @elonmusk” he tweeted, showing the back of a truck filled with Starlink terminals.

“You are most welcome,” Musk replied.

The Tesla and SpaceX founder activated Starlink, his commercial Internet network, in Ukraine last week with “more terminals en route”.

“Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route,” Musk had posted on Twitter.

Musk’s SpaceX has thousands of Starlink satellites in orbit, which allow the company to beam broadband services around Earth, without the need for fiber-optic cables.

The satellites could keep Ukraine online if its Internet infrastructure is damaged by Russia’s attack.

Musk’s move came in response to a plea by Fedorov, also Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, who called for help as Ukraine fought off an invasion and sustained cyberattacks by Russian forces.

“While you try to colonise Mars — Russia try to occupy Ukraine! While your rockets successfully land from space — Russian rockets attack Ukrainian civil people! We ask you to provide Ukraine with Starlink stations and to address sane Russians to stand,” Fedorov had tweeted to Musk.

SpaceX has thus far put more than 1,700 Starlink satellites into orbit, and the company plans on launching more than 40,000 in total.

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