Emergency teams in Washington State have been harnessing SpaceX’s Starlink internet technology to provide connectivity in areas devastated by wildfires.
“Happy to have the support of @SpaceX’s Starlink internet as emergency responders look to help residents rebuild the town of Malden, WA that was overcome by wildfires earlier this month,” tweeted Washington Emergency Management on Monday.
DEVASTATING WILDFIRE 'ANATOMY' EXPLAINED
A service station that was destroyed by a wildfire is shown Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020, in Malden, Wash. (AP Photo/Jed Conklin)
“Glad SpaceX could help! We are prioritizing emergency responders & locations with no Internet connectivity at all,” tweeted SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, in response.
The satellite-based Starlink system delivers high-speed broadband internet “to locations where access has been unreliable, expensive, or completely unavailable,” according to SpaceX. The service is initially focused on the northern U.S. and Canada, but will expand to provide near-global coverage of the populated world by 2021, SpaceX says.
"Four terminals were installed in Bridgeport, Omak, Skamania, and Malden," a spokesperson for the Washington Emergency Management Division told Fox News, via email. "All four performed incredibly well – and have been recovered. They’re no longer being used at this time."
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