Photo: Starlink (via Sawyer Merritt)
A non-continental U.S. state gained access to SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service this week.
SpaceX’s Starlink is now available for residential users in Hawaii, as spotted by Nathan Owens (via @SawyerMerritt). Others noted Starlink also is available now in Manaus, Brazil, in the middle of the Amazon rainforest.
SpaceX also signed a deal with Hawaiian Airlines for in-flight Wi-Fi in April, and the service is expected to offer up to 300 Mbps in-flight according to Elon Musk.
The activation joins roughly 50 percent of the U.S. in gaining access to the low-Earth orbit satellite internet service, with much of the eastern half of states still on the waitlist for the service. Additionally, the service is only available in the peninsula of Alaska, and the southernmost areas of Canada.
158 Tesla Megapacks On Route to Hawaii, Set to Replace Last Coal Power Plant https://t.co/wp1XO3vEXj
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) June 27, 2022
A few weeks ago, SpaceX activated Starlink in Iran following nationwide protests following the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman and activist Mahsa Amini in police custody over failure to properly cover her hair using a hijab. The Iranian government subsequently restricted access to some apps such as WhatsApp and Instagram in the wake of protests, prior to Starlink’s activation.
In separate news, Starlink will soon be operational in Jamaica, reports CVM Live, noting Technology Minister, Daryl Vaz, signed off on a license for the satellite internet service to operate in the nation.
Other Starlink activations in recent weeks and months include Zambia, Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine, the last of which SpaceX made operational amidst Russia’s invasion of the European country.
