What was the conversation between Nikhil Kamat and Elon Musk? Coffee, smiling faces, serious discussion

SpaceX founder and world’s richest man Elon Musk appeared in Nikhil Kamat’s podcast People by WTF. In this conversation of about two hours, both of them touched upon many issues and Elon Musk expressed his opinion openly.

Elon Musk is going to launch his satellite internet service Starlink in India soon. As soon as this service starts, fast internet will be available even in the mountains, forests and remote villages of India. Recently, he talked openly about this in a podcast with Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamat. He told how thousands of high-speed satellites continuously send internet over the Earth, how this technology saves people’s lives in disasters like floods, earthquakes, and why India holds a very special place in their mission.

During a conversation on Nikhil Kamat’s podcast People by WTF, Elon Musk said with great enthusiasm that Starlink is all set to launch its services in India. He said smilingly, we will enjoy working in India. He told that Starlink is already providing internet in more than 150 countries of the world. It was clearly visible from his words that India is the next big stop of his global mission.

Musk casually explained how Starlink actually works. He told that this technology is based on thousands of small satellites present in low-altitude orbit about 550 kilometers above the earth. These satellites revolve around the Earth at 25 times the speed of sound, due to which internet latency remains very low. He said that all these satellites have been connected to each other through laser links. This means that even if the cable gets cut somewhere on Earth, these satellites can continue the internet by communicating with each other.

Giving the example of a country like India, which is vast and has diverse geographical conditions, he explained that in cities, mobile towers are only at a distance of one kilometer from each other, hence the network is available well. But in remote areas, neither towers can be installed easily, nor is it easy to lay fiber cable. In such a situation, satellite internet service like Starlink can bring a big change there. Musk also said that Starlink will work as a partner of the existing telecom network, not a competitor.

Musk also said that Starlink proves to be most useful in times of disaster. He said that when there is a flood, earthquake or any kind of major natural disaster in any country, his team provides absolutely free Starlink internet to the people there. According to him, in difficult times, Starlink always plays the role of a helper and not a profit maker.

However, he also clarified one limitation. Musk said that in densely populated cities, Starlink will not always be able to work as well as local internet companies. The reason for this is the limitations of technology. He said unfortunately, physics does not allow this. The signals from satellites located 550 kilometers away cannot support the huge crowds of cities continuously at high speed. He also said that even by reducing the altitude to 350 kilometers, this problem cannot be solved completely.

Still, for rural areas, hilly states, coastal areas and places where internet is still a dream, Starlink looks no less than a boon. It is clear from Musk’s entire conversation that for a country like India, this technology can play a big role in bridging the digital divide.