SpaceX’s Starlink could be planning to build a satellite base station on the Isle of Man.
The Telegraph reports that the Elon Musk-backed firm is in the final stages of securing a license to build a ground station on the island, a self-governing British Crown dependency in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland.
Filings from the Isle’s communication regulator CURA show the Starlink already has a telecom license to operate there and the right to install equipment on the island.
The Telegraph said transmitting from the Isle of Man to its satellite network would allow Starlink to take advantage of the island’s less crowded airwaves, which are awarded separately from the UK’s. The company was reportedly the only one to express an interest in multiple spectrum bands, CURA said.
In March it was reported UK firm Arqiva had won a contract to provide ground station gateways in the UK for Starlink. Arqiva operates five teleports across the UK; located at Crawley Court, Chalfont on the Isle of Man, Bedford, Martlesham, and Morn Hill.
Starlink has previously announced partnerships with Google to host ground stations at the search giant’s data centers.
Source: datacenterdynamics.com
Photo: u/darkpenguin22 via Reddit
