Elon Musk’s Starlink finally becomes operational in Botswana

Starlink, SpaceX’s Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite internet service, is now operational in Botswana, adding it to the list of African nations where the provider is operational.

The country is the latest southern African country to license Starlink, following Zimbabwe.

Starlink had submitted its application to launch in May 2023, but Botswana rejected the application in February 2024, citing missing information. Following the application rejection was a ban on the use and sale of Starlink in the country.

However, in May, after a meeting between the SpaceX team and President Mokgweetsi Masisi at the Africa-US Business Forum in Dallas, Texas, Botswana lifted its ban on Elon Musk’s Starlink and granted the company an operating license.

Regulators in Botswana were urged to expedite the approval of Starlink’s license, according to President Mokgweetsi Masisi in a statement.

Masisi stated that Starlink services are expected to roll out in the country soon, offering connectivity to farmers and people in remote areas where traditional fixed broadband is unavailable.

The granting of the operating license aims to bridge the connectivity gap in the country of 2.6 million people. Despite an internet penetration rate of 87%, Botswana still faces some of the highest data prices in Africa.

Botswana is now the sixth Southern African country to host the satellite Internet service, following in the footsteps of Zambia, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, and Madagascar.

Starlink, which serves over 2.6 million customers worldwide, provides broadband internet through a network of approximately 5,500 satellites that SpaceX started deploying in 2019.