The White House is in talks with billionaire Elon Musk about setting up SpaceX’s satellite Internet service Starlink in Iran, CNN reported Friday, citing officials familiar with the matter. The satellite-based broadband service could help Iranians bypass regime restrictions on accessing the Internet and some social media platforms. The Islamic republic has been engulfed in protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody last month.
The US Treasury Department said last month that some satellite Internet equipment could be exported to Iran, suggesting the company may not need a license to provide satellite broadband service in the country.
musk then said it would be activated starlink In response to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s tweet that the US took action to “advance Internet freedom and the free flow of information” to Iranians.
SpaceX and the White House did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Musk said on Tuesday that Starlink has not received any funding from the US Department of Defense for its services in Ukraine, and that the company will receive about $20 million per month (about $165 million) due to unpaid service and costs on security measures for cyber warfare. There is a loss of Rs. Defense. “No money from DoD, but many other countries, organizations and individuals are paying for ~11k/25k terminals,” Musk said. the pentagon is Allegedly Consider paying for the service to Ukraine.
SpaceX aims to grow Starlink, as it races against rival satellite communications companies such as OneWeb and Amazon to launch Project Kuiper yet.
© Thomson Reuters 2022