Elon Musk's SpaceX eyes $1.5B investment to bring Starlink to Vietnam

The Elon Musk-owned U.S. satellite communications company began to offer Starlink Internet services five years ago and has since launched 6,000 satellites that cover almost every place on earth, its senior vice president, Tim Hughes, told Vietnam's Party General Secretary and President To Lam at a meeting in the U.S. Wednesday.

Lam welcomed the proposal and hoped it would be the first step in a partnership between the company and Vietnam.

Digital transformation plays an important role in ushering the country into a new era, he said.

The Vietnamese government is studying SpaceX’s proposal, he said, adding that he expected it to help Vietnam respond to natural disasters in future.

Hughes earlier this month told Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh that his company was ready to bring Starlink Internet to Vietnam.

SpaceX began to offer Internet services in the Philippines and Malaysia in early 2023. Its website shows the status for Vietnam and Thailand as "pending regulatory approval."

Also Wednesday Lam met with the chiefs of energy firms AES Corporation and Pacifico Energy. Vietnam is seeking ways to balance trade with the U.S., and so hopes to import liquefied natural gas, he said.

AES is in its energy plans already and so should not amend its plans in future, he said. He urged Pacifico Energy to speed up its existing projects and launch new ones in Vietnam.