SpaceX Starlink Approved in Georgia, Eastern Europe

SpaceX’s Starlink is being adopted by countries around the world, with one new approval coming from Eastern Europe earlier this week.

Georgia is the most recent country to have approved SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet, as of July 14, according to a report from Space News.

The Georgian National Communications Commission (ComCom) approved the bid after SpaceX initially applied for Starlink in Georgia on July 8, following a meeting with the country’s regulatory officials near the end of last month.

In a statement, translated from Georgian, ComCom said, “Starlink is especially important and interesting in mountainous regions as well as in settlements without broadband internet coverage.”

ComCom continued, “After the introduction of Starlink, access to high-speed Internet in all such geographical areas will be available to anyone.”

With the approval, Starlink will officially become available in Georgia throughout next year, across much of the country’s remote, mountainous borders — except for on the northern border neighboring Russia.

Currently, Starlink is available around the world to users in 30 countries, and CEO Elon Musk said in May that the low-Earth orbit satellite internet had almost 500,000 active users.

SpaceX achieved full Earth coverage with Starlink after a polar launch earlier this month.

In the U.S., SpaceX gained approval to operate Starlink on moving boats, planes and trucks last month.