--- title: "SpaceX Gives Native American Tribe Early Access to Starlink Internet" description: "SpaceX gave a Native American tribe in Washington early access to Starlink internet. Learn more about this internet service upgrade." date: "2020-10-09" modified: "2020-10-14" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-native-american-tribe-early-access-starlink-internet" categories: - "Future Society" - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "elon musk" - "SpaceX" - "starlink" - "the digest" --- # SpaceX Gives Native American Tribe Early Access to Starlink Internet ![A Native American tribe in Washington state just got a major internet upgrade, getting early access to SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet.]() *\Image: Washington State Department of Commerce\* ## Major Upgrade A Native American tribe in Washington state just got a major internet upgrade, getting early access to SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet. "It seemed like out of nowhere SpaceX just came up and catapulted us into the 21st century," Melvinjohn Ashue, vice chairman of the Hoh Tribe, said in a video published by the Washington State Department of Commerce. https://youtu.be/CbLY8xLXP0E ## Overnight "The last eight years I feel like we have been paddling up river with a spoon, and almost getting nowhere with getting internet to the reservation," Ashue added. But now that the tribe was hooked up to broadband internet, "our children can participate in remote learning, residents can access healthcare," [a tweet]() by the tribe reads. "SpaceX Starlink made it happen overnight." "You're most welcome!" SpaceX CEO [Elon Musk tweeted]() in a reply. ## Hooking Up the Globe It's unclear what kind of speeds the Hoh Tribe is experiencing through the network, but SpaceX has said it should be roughly as fast as your average broadband connection. Last month, SpaceX [hooked up Washington state emergency responders]() to the internet, bringing much-needed internet service to regions affected by wildfires. "Starlink easily doubles the bandwidth" when compared to other satellite internet connections, emergency telecommunications leader of the Washington State Military Department’s IT division Richard Hall [told *CNBC*]() last month. So far, SpaceX has sent over 700 small satellites into orbit to build its global broadband network. On Tuesday, [Musk confirmed]() that once the latest batch of 60 satellites "reach their target position, we will be able to roll out a fairly wide public beta in northern US and hopefully southern Canada." **READ MORE:** [Native American Tribe Gets Early Access to SpaceX's Starlink and Says It's Fast]() \[*PC Mag*\] **More on Starlink:** *[SpaceX Gives Early Starlink Internet to Towns Destroyed By Wildfires]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()