Starlink received the green light to launch its internet services in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese government noted SpaceX’s permission to launch Starlink services in the country is on a trial basis. Starlink’s trial period will last until the end of 2030. SpaceX has a subscriber limit of 600,000 within the trial period.

SpaceX can provide Starlink’s fixed and mobile internet service plans throughout Vietnam. It may also offer Starlink Aviation service plans.   

According to Reuters, the Vietnamese government noted that there is no limit to foreign ownership of a service. It is uncertain if SpaceX has applied for a license to launch Starlink services in Vietnam.

Vietnam’s decision to permit Starlink services in the country differs from Italy’s decision to pause discussions regarding SpaceX’s internet service. According to Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, discussions of a Starlink deal with SpaceX have “come to a standstill. Crosetto cites the controversy surrounding Elon Musk as the reason for the pause on a Starlink deal. Italy was discussing a potential $1.6 billion, 5-year Starlink contract with SpaceX.

SpaceX is also trying to launch Starlink in India. The aerospace company has already signed deals with two of India’s top telecom companies for Starlink services. However, Starlink is still waiting for regulatory approval.

While waiting for regulatory approvals and license processing, SpaceX continues to improve its Starlink services. Recently, news broke that the Elon Musk-led company has plans to launch a new Starlink dish with gigabit speeds.

SpaceX is preparing to release a Starlink dish with gigabit speeds, likely leaving the European Union scrambling to catch up.

During a webinar for Starlink resellers, SpaceX mentioned the development of a new Starlink dish that would offer customers gigabit internet speeds. The new Starlink dish is expected to boost current download speeds of around 200 Mbps.

“Next generation, we’ll have smaller beams, more capacity per beam, lower latency,” noted SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell in 2024. She teased that Starlink speeds would reach as high as 2 gigabits with the next-generation dish.

EU plays catch up with SpaceX’s Starlink

While SpaceX prepares to provide customers with gigabit speeds, the European Union is still trying to catch up to Starlink’s current internet services.

The Foreign Minister of Poland, Radoslaw Sikorski, accused Elon Musk of threatening to cut off Ukraine’s access to Starlink. The Polish Minister’s accusation came after Musk pointed out that Ukraine’s front line would collapse without Starlink.

Sikorski interpreted Musk’s words as a threat. Musk later issued a statement saying he would “never” cut Starlink services to Ukraine.

Despite Musk’s statement, the EU is considering alternatives to SpaceX’s Starlink. It will be difficult, given that the EU currently has no companies that can match SpaceX’s Starlink constellation.

The closest company in Europe to SpaceX’s Starlink is Eutelsat’s OneWeb constellation, which has around 650 satellites in lower earth orbit. In comparison, SpaceX reported having approximately 6,750 satellites in the Starlink constellation as of February 2025.

Even if Europe managed to match SpaceX’s current Starlink constellation, having Ukraine switch from one service to another would be complicated. Multiple countries are paying for Ukraine’s Starlink services, including the United States and Poland. On top of that, each country isn’t paying the same amount–some seem to be paying more than others.

In general, it doesn’t seem like Elon Musk can cut Ukraine’s access to Starlink on a whim.

Starlink Gigabit Dish Pending

SpaceX has a few boxes to check before releasing the Starlink gigabit dish. It will need to upgrade its Starlink constellation to harness a broader range of radio spectrum. But first, SpaceX must get clearance from the FCC to implement the upgrades.

PC Mag speculates that SpaceX could launch the Starlink gigabit dish later this year. The new dish’s release will depend on if SpaceX’s Starship can successfully deploy third-generation V3 Starlink satellites.

SpaceX is ready to bring home Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the two astronauts that have been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) for nine months.

Last week, SpaceX launched its Crew-10 mission, which would dock onto the ISS late Saturday night and be the two astronauts’ ride home. Now, the end is in sight, and it appears both NASA and SpaceX are planning to have the two home this week, perhaps earlier than expected.

SpaceX readies to rescue astronauts from International Space Station

The agency and the company have announced that Dragon will autonomously undock from the ISS on Tuesday at 1:05 a.m. ET and should re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and splashdown off the Florida coast about 17 hours later.

SpaceX said:

“SpaceX and NASA are targeting Tuesday, March 18 at 1:05 a.m. ET for Dragon to autonomously undock from the International Space Station. After performing a series of departure burns to move away from the space station, Dragon will conduct multiple orbit-lowering maneuvers, jettison the trunk, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere for splashdown off the coast of Florida approximately 17 hours later the same day.”

Crew-9 astronaut Nick Hague will be alongside Williams and Wilmore on the flight home, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Hague and Gorbunov have been in space since Saturday, September 28.

SpaceX was tasked with bringing Wilmore and Williams home after the Boeing Starliner that sent them there was determined not to be suitable for their return.

A report from the New York Post in late August said that Boeing employees routinely made fun of SpaceX workers, only for the company to bail them out:

SpaceX bails out Boeing and employees are reportedly ‘humiliated’

Crew-10 will bring the astronauts home, ending an extensive and unscheduled stay in space.