After the earthquake, it was reported that SpaceX Starlink satellites, which Elon Musk said he could send to Turkey, were seen over Turkey on the night of February 13.
No statement has yet been made on whether the satellites have been officially approved for the earthquake zone and entered Turkey.
After the big earthquake in Turkey, telecommunications and internet became the biggest needs. The destruction of base stations and damage to infrastructures also emerged as a major obstacle for people to communicate. The mobile infrastructure established by telecommunication companies was largely inadequate. As such, calls for support became inevitable.
Meanwhile, it has been stated that Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites, which have been talked about a lot since the first day, because he can help in providing the internet, have been seen over Turkey.
Elon Musk, CEO of giant technology companies such as Tesla, Twitter, SpaceX and owner of Starlink satellites, announced on Twitter that he could send satellites over Turkey to establish communication in the first days of the earthquake.
Responding to the requests for help he received from Turkish users in this regard, Musk made a statement on his social media account, “The Turkish government has not yet responded. As soon as we give approval, our SpaceX company can send Starlink satellites to Turkey,” he wrote.
Although there is no new statement from the owner of the company, Musk or the authorities of the Republic of Turkey, Starlink satellites were seen in the airspace of Turkey last night! It is known that the satellites, which are stated to be seen in Turkey when entering from the Bulgarian border over Turkey, can solve the communication and internet problem.
It has not been clarified yet with an official statement whether the Starlink satellites are for testing purposes in Turkey, or whether they are in Turkey to facilitate communication in the earthquake zone by being approved.
What is Starlink, how does it work?
Starlink, owned by SpaceX company, is a space-based system that has been working for years to facilitate this service in places where internet access is insufficient in many regions around the world.
The company most recently sent 53 Starlink internet satellites to low orbit in space with a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on February 2.
THERE ARE 4,400 SATELLITE TARGETS
SpaceX, which aims to send 4,400 satellites to space in the first place, has approximately 3 thousand satellites around the world, 2 thousand 500 of which are actively used and 500 of which are moved to their orbits.
It is noted that SpaceX plans to establish a network of 12 thousand satellites in orbit around the world with Starlink satellites within the scope of the project, which is planned to be completed in 2027, and that it has created a Starlink internet network in 40 countries with existing satellites.