The broadband satellite Internet network Starlink will support communications in the Gaza Strip after a “telecommunications blackout” caused by Israeli attacks, its owner Elon Musk announced this Saturday.
“Starlink will connect internationally recognized humanitarian aid organizations in the Gaza Strip,” Musk wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter), which he also owns.
Musk, however, did not specify which organizations the Starlink network would support.
The United Nations (UN) warned this Saturday that the mobile and internet shutdown in the Gaza Strip, which began on Friday shortly after Israel announced it was intensifying its attacks, “is hampering its humanitarian work” and has led to the loss of contact with some of its local institutions.
Starlink has placed 4,200 small satellites in low Earth orbit to provide high-speed Internet connectivity and plans to reach 7,000 in the coming years.
Such a large number of interconnected laser hotspots allows them to maintain stable communications even if several of their satellites are destroyed.
Starlink satellites orbit 2,000 kilometers from Earth’s surface so they perform better, are undetectable and speed up service to an average speed of 25 thousandths of a second, the Elon Musk-owned company says.