Today, SpaceX and other satellite internet providers can’t easily sneak internet access into repressive countries with their permission—the technical and legal challenges are too difficult. But a new generation of laser-equipped spacecraft being developed by Elon Musk’s space company may solve some of those problems, allowing the internet to slip past iron curtains.
SpaceX’s Starlink network is an unprecedented approach to delivering internet from space—with 1,740 satellites launched about 500 miles above the planet, it is the biggest constellation out there. Currently in beta testing, it provides broadband connectivity to users below (when trees aren’t in the way. ) Starlink is now available in fourteen countries. But what if someone wanted to use Starlink in a country without permission from that government?
One key challenge to eluding censorship is technical: Starlink users need to be within several hundred miles of a ground station that is plugged into the internet, so the satellites can relay data back and forth between them. SpaceX is not going to be able to set up these stations in authoritarian countries, or likely many of their neighbors.
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