Mangaluru: Strange lights in sky leaves people wondering

Mangaluru/Udupi: A strange series of lights seen in the night sky on December 20 in the twin districts perplexed the locals here. There was a fierce debate and speculation over their origins in social media — while some guessed it could be UFO and others said it was an aircraft.

It turns out that the train of lights was nothing but satellites of Starlink, a project by Elon Musk owned SpaceX.

Starlink project aims to connect the world with satellite internet. The US-based company will use the network of thousands of satellites orbiting the globe to provide internet services.

When these satellites pass overhead, they appear like a string of lights following one another. On December 20, about 40-50 such lights were visible on the night sky in Udupi-Dakshina Kannada.

SpaceX aims to provide uninterrupted internet supply all over the world, even in the remotest of places such as the Arctic and Antarctica. The internet speed will be slower than the optical fiber broadband but will be faster and more reliable than the satellite internet service available today.

Starlink has applied for the government’s permission to provide satellite internet service in India as well and is likely to be approved by the end of January.  If all goes well, satellite-based internet service can soon be expected in India.