Musk wanted to remove Starlink satellite Internet from sanctions

MOSCOW, 20 Sep — PRIME. American businessman Elon Musk said that he would ask the US authorities to make an exception from anti-Iranian sanctions for his Starlink service in order to provide Iranians with satellite Internet.

“Starlink will request an appropriate exemption from Iranian sanctions,” Musk tweeted in response to a user’s question about the technical feasibility of including Iran in the coverage area.

Starlink is a next generation satellite network designed to provide broadband Internet access around the world. On Sunday, Musk’s SpaceX launched 54 Starlink satellites into orbit, and the company now has over 2,300 Starlink satellites with more than half a million active subscribers.

The original plan was to launch 12,000 Starlink satellites, but the company has applied to launch 30,000 more. Connection to Starlink will not be available for residents of Russia, China, Belarus, Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea, follows from the coverage map published on the network’s website.