Elon Musk offers to Send Starlink Terminals to Tonga

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has offered to send Starlink terminals to Tonga after it faced a recent underwater volcanic eruption that led to the loss of internet access in the country.

The volcanic eruption triggered a tsunami that tore through the country’s 827 km undersea internet cable. This led to the cut in the communication links of the island. The director of internet analysis at Kentik, Doug Madory has tweeted that the first signs of life for internet connectivity out of Tonga since the volcanic eruption have started coming back through satellite. 

Shane Reti, a New Zealand parliament member has also requested urgent Starlink internet communications for Tonga. Elon Musk replied to the tweet saying that he was seeking a clear confirmation for Starlink terminals as it can be a hard process for the SpaceX team due to not having enough satellite with laser links.

There are over 1,650 Starlink satellites in orbit at present that serves users in 14 countries including the USA, Canada and Australia. Elon Musk has recently said that he wants to expand the services to India by developing 200,000 Starlink user terminals by December 2022.