[Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during a press conference at SpaceX's Starbase facility near Boca Chica Village in South Texas on February 10, 2022. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk delivered an eagerly-awaited update on SpaceX's Starship, a prototype rocket the company is developing for crewed interplanetary exploration. (Photo by Jim Watsons/ AFP)]

MANILA: SpaceX, the aerospace company of eccentric billionaire and world’s richest man Elon Musk, is set to enter the Philippines, the government announced Thursday. This could propel the country as the first in Southeast Asia to access SpaceX's low earth orbit satellite network constellation called “Starlink”, the Department of Trade and Industry said Thursday. Starlink is comprised of over 1,600 satellites, PhilStar reported. 

“Preparations are underway for their registration,” the DTI said in a statement. “At present, their application is being processed and the locations of their gateways are being visited.” Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said SpaceX’s entry would give better internet speeds and connectivity in the country, which is notorious for its poor telecommunications especially in remote parts of the archipelago. The company is currently establishing a local Filipino entity that will be their wholly-owned subsidiary and is targeting to deploy three gateways in the first phase of their launch, he added.

“Their system will augment, as well as complement existing broadband capacities. This will further capacitate micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), facilitate online learning, e-commerce, and fintech," Lopez said.