Elon Musk surely knows a way to keep doing things extraordinarily, be it sending fruits and veggies loaded over its Falcon9 space vehicle or the Rideshare mechanism, be it a few controversial statements or a funny conversation with followers.
Just when the world has been enough critical of the SpaceX’s Starlink constellation that he is continuously feeding in the Lower Earth Orbit (LEO), Musk has been in talks with the Brazilian officials for a greater purpose.
The potential deal that Musk is trying to discuss and strike here is to provide satellite internet for the Amazon rainforest in order to detect illegal deforestation and curb it further.
Earlier the Starlink has been in news for the Space crowding and space debris it may produce in the long run.
With a mesh of advanced satellites in space orbit, Starlink aims to provide high speed and low latency Internet facilities in every remotest corner of Earth.
They can even use it for better humanitarian prospects like education, telemedicine and even for communication support during natural disaster situations.
It has even claimed to reduce the brightness in sky because of satellites and thereby produce lesser impact on Astronomy, sustaining the natural Night Sky on Earth.
The Communications Minister of Brazil, Fabio Faria decided to meet with Elon Musk in Texas for clinching the deal for the intended satellite internet service, Starlink.
The Minister explained: “We are talking about environmental issues and connecting people in rural schools in Brazil”.
“I’m very, very excited to start a partnership with Starlink and with SpaceX and Brazil.”
Acharam que iríamos parar com o leilão do 5G? Não! Agora vamos buscar empresas de inovação para investirem no Brasil. Queremos que o país seja hub de inovação da América Latina com o 5G. Eu acredito no 🇧🇷! #LetsDoThis @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/s7G4spT94A
— Fábio Faria (@fabiofaria) November 16, 2021
It is expected to be the ‘first approach’ meeting for the same.
According to the deal, SpaceX might use its satellites to help with the functioning of schools in remote areas of the country as well as police the destruction of the world’s biggest rainforest: The Amazon.
Musk explained with excitement, that he is “looking forward to providing connectivity to basically the least-served people in Brazil and helping ensure the preservation of the Amazon.”
Why this satellite Internet is good for Brazil?
With its wide constellation of SpaceX’s more than 1,500 low-orbit satellites capable of providing internet service accessible from every corner of the planet, be it the Amazon, more than 60 percent of which exists in Brazil.
This connectivity revolution can eliminate darkness of many lives in Brazil, because around 40 million people in the country lack digital access. This lack of a basic necessity nowadays, isolates them from the rest of the world.
And they remain out of the reach of Government facilities forever.
Starlink has already served around 140,000 users in 20 world countries, for different sort of purposes, they seem to render.
Why this step is important for the Brazilian Government?
The Brazilian government headed by Jair Bolsonaro, has been facing international criticism for the level of deforestation they have allowed to creep in this rainforest that serves as the lungs of this planet.
It has been known that since this far-right Brazilian president took office in 2019, deforestation in the Brazilian part of Rainforest has surged from an average 6,500 square kilometers (2,500 square miles) of forestland being destroyed per year in last decade to around 10,000 sq kms.
This data has been collected using satellites available for Government use.
It became news how these rainforests could turn to a source of carbon emissions from the trees being cut from earlier being a sink to all the carbon emissions of the world.
At the COP26 recently held in Glasgow, it was decided by several countries to eliminate deforestation as a measure to eliminate the possibility of exceeding world temperatures from 1.5 degrees C.
This move to check and uproot deforestation in Amazon, can save the tattered reputation of Bolsonaro Government in the world forums.