Microsoft partners with Starlink to expand global internet

Microsoft announced a partnership with SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet to expand global connectivity.

The move highlights Microsoft’s openness to work with Elon Musk’s companies, even as he takes Microsoft-backed OpenAI to court.

The initiative aims to combine low-Earth orbit satellite connectivity with community-based deployment models.

Microsoft’s effort aligns with its broader goal to extend internet coverage, which has reached over 299 million people since 2022.

The collaboration involves an internet service provider in Kenya, and supports the deployment of connectivity in underserved areas.

🔗 Source: CNBC

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Microsoft and SpaceX began the partnership in October 2020 when Microsoft introduced Azure Space, a cloud computing platform for the space industry 1.
Early work connected Starlink’s satellite network with Microsoft’s Azure Modular Datacenter, a portable unit built for tough settings like military mobile command centers, emergency relief stations, and mineral exploration sites 1.
In Kenya, the effort extends into community internet access. Microsoft named Kenya an early example with Starlink plus local internet service provider Mawingu Networks. The plan targets 450 community hubs 2.

The Starlink arrangement comes as Microsoft expands its space work while Amazon develops a Starlink competitor called Project Kuiper 3.
Amazon plans to sell private connectivity to businesses and governments through its Amazon Web Services unit, then pair cloud services with internet access 4.
SpaceX said in 2020 that Starlink had started service in some regions. It also said the network was running a private beta 3.
That gives Microsoft satellite connectivity options for Azure use cases such as Azure Modular Datacenter, plus other hybrid deployments in hard-to-reach locations 3.
This backdrop helps explain Microsoft working with Elon Musk’s company despite public and legal friction tied to Musk’s dispute involving OpenAI and Microsoft. Sources do not support calling the partnership a “direct response” or saying it was “forced” by rivalry with Amazon 2.