Advanced Television

Quebec invests in Starlink

May 18, 2022

By Chris Forrester

Today (May 18th), a Falcon 9 rocket will launch another 53 of Elon Musk’s Starlink broadband satellites into their transfer orbit. The launch comes alongside news that Quebec’s government, in addition to having already invested in Telesat’s proposed Lightspeed satellite constellation, is also putting cash into Starlink.

The move reflects Quebec’s intention to offer a high-speed broadband connection to all of its citizens including those living in remote Northern parts of the region. The Quebec cash is designed to help serve those living in Canada’s polar regions above 57 degrees North.

The target is some 10,200 homes. Gilles Belanger, the parliamentary assistant to the premier, told a press conference that it would be most difficult to connect the homes with fibre.

“The only solution to connect these orphaned households is the SpaceX solution. I’m not linking to Elon Musk, I’m linking to the technology solution, which is the most advanced,” said Belanger.

Quebec says it will invest C$50 million in Starlink.

SpaceX says it is targeting May 18th for its launch from Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The instantaneous launch window is at 6:20am ET, and a backup opportunity in case of bad weather is available on May 19th at 6:38am ET.

The first stage booster supporting this mission previously launched Arabsat-6A, STP-2, COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM2, and one Starlink mission. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will return and land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas drone-ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Categories: Articles, Broadband, Satellite

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