Starlink in Argentina: what it is and what is known about the arrival of Elon Musk’s satellite internet in the country

Finally, after a National chain -almost- 15 minutes, Javier Milei made public to megaDNU where he outlined several measures to deregulate the state, including the “Deregulation of Internet Companies, to Incorporate Other Providers Like Starlink.”

Diana Mondinofuture Minister of Foreign Affairs of the president-elect, Javier Mileiweeks ago, he referred to the possible arrival of the satellite internet system starlinkproperty of Elon Muskin Argentina: “Here we are”responded to a tweet referencing the topic.

Beyond the announcement by the President-elect and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Starlink already had permits to operate approved by the National Communications Agency (Enacom) from 2021.

At the beginning of the same year the body authorized the company as a supplier, according to the provisions of the art resolution 1291/2020 which was published in the Official Journal in December 2020.

And the company has been operational since March 2022, when the Dutch branches of SpaceX and Starlink decided to create “Starlink Argentina SRL”, but so far it does not provide services.

The information began to circulate on Twitter because a user posted an image of the Starlink website that listed Argentina among its suppliers. However, the site had already been showing it since at least August of this year, so It doesn’t appear to have anything directly to do with Milei’s victory.

Musk winked at Milei over the weekend as the now-president-elect won the runoff election Sergio Massa with 55.76% of the votes. “Argentina is preparing for prosperity,” she wrote. It is not the first time that the richest man in the world, who owns assets of 241 billion dollars, has referred to local politics.

Musk had a tweet celebrating Milei’s victory with the Gadsden flag, an icon of libertarian thought. In September this year, Musk had referenced Tucker Carlson’s interview with Milei, which he considered “interesting.” “Very interesting speech that goes well beyond Argentina in the topics covered,” the tycoon tweeted. Weeks earlier he had tweeted along the same lines.

The company was already, as of 2021, authorized in Argentina “for the provision of information and communication technology services, fixed or mobile, wired or wireless, national or international, with or without its own infrastructure”. At that time the assignment of frequency bands and the coordination of the satellite network with Argentina began.

Starlink: possible price in Argentina

According to what you read on their website, it is now possible to book the Super-fast Internet service for US$99.

To this we must add, for the only time, $499 for the installation kitwhich includes a tripod, a Wi-Fi router and a terminal for connecting to satellites.

The main objective of Musk’s project is to make the Internet connection accessible from any point of the globe, which is achieved through the use of one of the most important satellite networks on the planet, which he confirmed on his official website when it will start working . work in the country.

Starlink is an internet service provided through a constellation of 1,700 low-orbit satellites, known in English by the acronym LEO (Low Earth Orbit)

What is Starlink and how does it work

Starlink is a project of the SpaceX company, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, which aims to provide high-speed, low-latency Internet through a network of satellites in low Earth orbit. Starlink aims to offer an alternative to fiber optic and cable networks, especially in rural or remote areas where Internet access is limited or non-existent.

To access the Starlink serviceyou need a kit that includes a satellite dish, a tripod, a router and a cable.

Elon Musk’s satellite Internet service works by sending information through the vacuum of space, where it travels much faster than fiber-optic cable and can reach many more people and places.

While most satellite internet services come from individual geostationary satellites orbiting the planet at around 35,000 km, Starlink is a constellation of multiple satellites orbiting the planet much closer to Earth, at around 550 km. and they cover the whole world.

Starlink has committed to “providing Internet services to companies or individuals, providing Internet connectivity services and satellite Internet services,” as well as “developing, marketing and installing hardware devices, including antennas and user terminals,” among other activities.

Because Musk’s company’s satellites are in low orbit, the data round-trip time between the user and the satellite, also known as latency, is much lower than satellites in geostationary orbit.

Among other things, this key feature of the service allows the user to play online video games that normally have no possibility with the band satellite broadband, the company revealed on the Starlink website.