Musk targets telecom for next disruption with Starlink Internet

A file photo of SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Berlin. Starlink marks SpaceX’s first foray into a truly consumer-facing product. — AP

Elon Musk became the world’s richest person this month by upending the global auto industry and disrupting aerospace heavyweights with reusable rockets. Now he’s setting his sights on another business dominated by entrenched incumbents: telecommunications.

Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp has launched more than 1,000 satellites for its Starlink Internet service and is signing up early customers in the US, UK and Canada. SpaceX has told investors that Starlink is angling for a piece of a US$1 trillion (RM4.03 trillion) market made up of in-flight Internet, maritime services, demand in China and India – and rural customers such as Brian Rendel.