SpaceX, the privately held space exploration company led by Elon Musk, has secured a $100-million contract to provide high-speed internet access to remote and northern areas of Canada.
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Under terms of the contract, SpaceX will bring its Starlink satellite internet service to 15,000 homes and businesses in rural and northern regions of Ontario, Canada’s largest province with a population of 13 million people.
Starlink satellites provided by SpaceX will connect people in hard-to-reach areas, particularly in the isolated north where internet service is sporadic and unreliable. The Starlink system is scheduled to go live in June 2025 with registrations starting next spring.
Reaching Northern Areas
The contract with SpaceX has been signed by the provincial Government of Ontario. The government says it is paying the equipment and installation costs, but not monthly fees. Starlink’s satellite internet service was previously piloted in northern Ontario with the Pikangikum First Nation indigenous group. The remote community is only accessible by air or an ice road that’s open in winter.
The rollout of the satellite service is part of the Ontario government’s $4 billion plan to deliver high-speed internet to every part of the province. SpaceX started launching Starlink satellites in 2019 and now has more than 7,000 satellites in low Earth orbit that can communicate with ground transceivers, providing high-speed internet in places where broadband cable can be difficult to install.
Starlink is a privately held company. Its stock does not trade on a public exchange.
Is Tesla (TSLA) Stock a Buy?
With no Starlink stock, we look to Elon Musk’s other company, Tesla (TSLA). Its stock currently has a consensus Hold rating among 35 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on 11 Buy, 16 Hold, and eight Sell recommendations made in the last three months. The average TSLA price target of $207.83 implies 39.91% downside risk from current levels.
