(MENAFN- Live Mint) SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said his company is making strides with its Starlink program, which provides low-cost, reliable internet across the globe. Speaking to Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath on the People by WTF podcast, Musk highlighted the program's international footprint.

The tech entrepreneur expressed optimism about expanding Starlink operations to India, which would mark a significant step in the company's goal of connecting underserved regions globally.

Musk's remarks signal a possible expansion of Starlink services into India, a market with high demand for improved connectivity, particularly in rural and underserved areas.

“SpaceX is doing great work with the Starlink programme, providing low-cost, reliable internet throughout the world, and hopefully, India. We'd love to be operating in India. That would be great. We are operating in 150 different countries now, with Starlink,” Musk said.

Reliable connectivity

Musk emphasized that Starlink aims to deliver high-speed, low-latency internet to areas where traditional networks are unavailable or limited. The programme uses thousands of low-Earth orbit satellites to provide coverage worldwide.

Low-Earth orbit and low latency

Musk explained the technical foundation of Starlink, emphasizing the low-Earth orbit satellites.

“They're at an altitude of about 550 km, which is generally at low Earth orbit. Because they are in low Earth orbit, the latency is low.”

Interconnected satellite network

The Tesla CEO described the laser mesh that connects Starlink satellites, ensuring redundancy and reliability.

“You have got thousands of satellites providing low-latency, high-speed Internet throughout the world, and they are interconnected as well. There are laser links between the satellites, so they form a laser mesh. If the cables are cut, the satellites can communicate with each other and provide connectivity.”

Starlink in disaster relief

Musk also highlighted Starlink's role in emergency response.

“Whenever there is a natural disaster somewhere, we always provide people with free Starlink internet connectivity. We don't take advantage of a tragic situation,” he said.

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The CEO pointed out that Starlink is particularly beneficial in rural areas where traditional networks struggle.

“In cities, you've got these cell towers that are only a kilometer apart. But cell towers tend to be inefficient in the countryside. So, in rural areas is where you tend to have the worst internet because it's very expensive and difficult to lay all the fiber optic cables or to have high bandwidth cellular towers. So, Starlink is very complementary to the existing telecom companies.”

Limitations in densely populated areas

Musk acknowledged that physics limits Starlink's effectiveness in cities with dense local networks.

“Unfortunately, the physics don't allow for that. We are too far away. So, at 550 km, even if we try to reduce it, about as low as we can go is about 350 km, it's still very far away. So it's not physically possible for Starlink to serve densely populated cities.”

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