Elon Musk spent the weekend with senior politicians at the Indonesian resort of Bali, where the inauguration of Starlink was discussed with Indonesia’s chief investment minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.
The opportunities for Starlink are huge in the archipelago of some 17,000 often remote island communities of more than 270 million people
Starlink was launched at three Indonesian health centres on May 19th, including two in Bali and one on the remote island of Aru in Maluku. Musk is due to meet the nation’s president, Joko Widodo, today (May 20th).
Communications minister Budi Arie Setiadi, who also attended the Bali launch, said Starlink was now available commercially, but the government would focus its services first for outer and underdeveloped regions.
Starlink obtained an Indonesian permit to operate as an internet service provider for retail consumers and had been given the go-ahead to provide networks.
Coincidentally, the weekend saw Starlink go live for the 300 or so islands in the Republic of Fiji, marking the 99th nation where Starlink is now available. Fiji is a small nation of barely 1 million inhabitants, but its need for communications is just as valid.
A SpaceX rocket used a booster for the 21st time — itself a world record for re-use — to add to the fleet which now numbers 6,030 as being in orbit (out of 6,459 launch) and with dozens moving towards their target orbital positions.
The 2024 roll-out schedule for Starlink is below, but does not include perhaps its largest target market which is India. Elon Musk reportedly cancelled a planned stop-over in India perhaps suggesting that progress in the country will be slow.
British Virgin Islands
Anguilla
Sint Maarten
Antigua
Barbuda
Guyana
Suriname
Bolivia
Mauritania
Senegal
Togo
Chad
Oman
Uganda
Burundi
Tanzania
Angola
Nambia
Zimbabwe
Botswana
Madagascar
Turkey
Azerbajian
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Turkmenistan
Indonesia
Papua New Guinea
Tonga
By (frequent Satnews and SatMagazine columnist), Chris Forrester, in Advanced Television
