SpaceX's Starlink to soon roll out satellite internet service in Korea

SpaceX's Starlink will soon roll out its service in Korea through KT Sat, the company said Wednesday. [STARLINK]

SpaceX’s Starlink, a low Earth orbit satellite internet network, is gearing up to be deployed in Korea under local satellite company KT Sat.

KT Sat said Wednesday that the service will initially be adopted by the mobility industry, especially in maritime communications, as it needs a stable communications network for maritime residents on long-term voyages that can take up to six months after the ship sets sail.

“A low earth orbit satellite network is highly valuable in the sense that it can provide a high-speed network in realms that are difficult to reach, such as in aviation and maritime communications,” KT Sat’s CEO Song Kyung-min said in a statement.

Starlink offers high-speed, low-latency internet service globally using a low Earth orbit satellite. The satellite arm is run by SpaceX, a private company headed by CEO Elon Musk, also the CEO of Tesla. The Starlink satellite internet service is currently available in 67 countries including the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany and New Zealand.

The Starlink service will be made available domestically after Starlink Korea, Space X’s local subsidiary, is approved by the government, KT Sat said.

Once the service rolls out in Korea, KT Sat will provide an upgraded service that integrates its maritime very small aperture terminal with Starlink. It aims to deploy the service to more than 2,000 ships worldwide within three years.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]