SpaceX has recently made news with its Starlink service on pricing in the U.S., a new app, and an interesting terms of service. But what many Canadian want to know, including the over 5300 people who have signed the Jamie Schmale Member of Parliament petition, is when the service will be available in Canada. While we don’t have details yet on the service, thanks to an email from Elon Musk, we have a better idea of when the service might be approved by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED).
I emailed Elon Musk this week to learn more about the Starlink service in Canada, and frankly to find out if I could be a beta tester in Canada. I didn’t get a response on being a beta tester, but I did get a response on when SpaceX might get its spectrum license from ISED. With a license from ISED, SpaceX could soon roll-out Starlink beta service in Canada.
Elon said he wasn’t “sure when we get final approval,” but “probably in two or three weeks.”
That would put approval in mid-November, or the third week of November. And with that SpaceX could start beta testing of Starlink in Canada before the end of the year and fulfill their promise.
If SpaceX does get its service in beta this year it would certainly put pressure on its competitors, including Telesat. While Telesat may be focused on the enterprise market and doesn’t buy into the Starlink business case, it’s clear SpaceX is willing to spend money, lots of it, to build its client base, including the consumer market for Starlink. And unlike Telesat, SpaceX has legions of fans who will spread the word.