Suite à l'éruption du volcan sous-marin, et au tsunami qui a submergé les îles, coupant toutes les câbles permettant l'accès Internet, Elon Musk a proposé d'envoyer des terminaux pour permettre l'accès à Internet par Starlink, Le responsable politique local, Lord Fusitu a répondu que cela les aiderait grandement pour commander des biens de premières nécessités, et a proposé d'organiser des sites pour les recevoir par des parachutages à partir d'avion.

Mais Elon Musk a du se rétracter quelques heures plus tard, expliquant que cela ne serait pas possible car Starlink n'avait pas encore assez de satellites avec laser. Je ne vois effectivement  pas quelle station terrestre il pourrait utiliser au milieu du pacifique.  Je me demande d'ailleurs si Starlink ne devra pas abandonner dans un avenir assez ses ~1500 premiers satellites qui n'ont pas ces liens. Car la cohabitation entre satellites avec et sans liens laser me parait compliquée.

Elon Musk offers to send terminals to restore internet to volcano-hit Tonga

Tesla billionaire says he could send Starlink terminals via SpaceX to Pacific island nation where communication is down

Fri 21 Jan 2022 22.26 GMT

Elon Musk has offered to send Starlink internet terminals to Tonga, after the recent volcanic eruption and tsunami left the Pacific island nation without communication links to the rest of the world.

Replying on Twitter to a Reuters story that Tonga could be without internet connection for a month, the billionaire entrepreneur wrote: “Could people from Tonga let us know if it is important for SpaceX to send over Starlink terminals?”

The tweet soon went viral as Tongans from all over the world replied with pleas for help to reestablish communication to contact families and coordinate assistance.


Tongan politician Lord Fusitu’a responded by saying: “Yes we need them to get liquidity in to purchase much-needed goods. Voice and data completely down with undersea cable severed.”

Fusitu’a also tweeted that he was organizing an airdrop of ham radio for basic communications, and requested for direct contact with Musk to coordinate assistance.

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In response, Musk wrote: “This is a hard thing for us to do right now, as we don’t have enough satellites with laser links and there are already geo sats that serve the Tonga region. That is why I’m asking for clear confirmation.”

Communications are still down in Tonga except for satellite phones and limited internet access for a handful of officials and media.

The exchange comes after the New Zealand MP Shane Reti wrote to Musk requesting he provide Starlink internet communications to Tonga to assist in recovery efforts.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/21/elon-musk-starlink-internet-tonga-volcano