Yemen is the first country in the Middle East to benefit from Elon Musk’s internet satellite service Starlink, as the billionaire tech mogul has sought to support crisis-stricken countries and remote parts of the world.
Musk said on Wednesday that Starlink was now available in Yemen, announcing the news in a post on X, the social media site he heads.
Yemen has been stricken by a major humanitarian crisis since the outbreak of war between rival factions in 2015 which triggered widespread displacement and fears of famine for the 33 million population in one of the world’s poorest countries.
It is not the first time that Musk, a controversial figure for his casual approach to regulating X, has stepped up to provide internet access to conflict zones or humanitarian disasters.
After international pressure, Musk agreed to set up a Starlink satellite over Gaza, following Israel’s destruction of the Strip’s telecommunications networks early in the war. He also established connection for Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.
Starlink’s internet connection to Yemen, one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, will likely be a boost to for the population’s access to services and assist international organisations there.
The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR estimates that two-thirds of Yemen’s population, 21.6 million people, are in dire need of humanitarian support. It says that tens of thousands are in famine-like conditions.
Fighting between Yemeni government forces and the Houthi group boiled over into a major proxy war between regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, with the latter funding and training the Houthis, as part of the Axis of Resistance.
The political and militia group, also known as Ansar Allah, has been attacking Israel, US or UK-linked vessels in the Red Sea international shipping lane in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Starlink provides fast internet connection through its thousands of orbiting satellites and is owned by SpaceX.
Individuals, businesses and organisations in nearly 100 countries are using Starlink broadband, according to its website. It says more than three million are using the radio waves.
According to a world map on Starlink’s website, Yemen is the only country in the Middle East where it is available. The rest of the Arab world is labelled as ‘waitlist’, pending regulatory approval, excluding Syria and Iraq which are not labelled.
The UK, US, parts of Latin America and Africa and Australia and south Asia all have connection, which displays countries where Starlink is available, on a waitlist, or ‘coming soon’.
While Starlink’s ability to connect remote areas or crisis zones to the internet has been commended, scientists have recently expressed concern that its radio waves might be blocking astronomical research. One scientist interviewed in a BBC report said that SpaceX is launching 40 second-generation Starlink satellites every week into space.
According to one estimate, there are over 6,000 Starlink satellites in orbit above Earth.