Mysterious string of lights hovering above Australian sky linked to Elon Musk project

A mysterious string of lights hovering in the sky in Australia puzzled many, but the explanation is far more useful than initially thought.

A peculiar string of lights hovering above eastern Australia in the early hours of Tuesday morning have been linked to another daring project from Elon Musk.

A Reddit user shared images of the unusual sighting from 5am that showed a long and straight line of glowing dots.

The photos were posted on the social media platform asking if the “line of meteorites at about 5.15am” had been spotted by others, but the source of the lights was actually linked to Musk’s project through his space company SpaceX to improve internet speeds in remote regions.

The project, Starlink, has scattered more than a thousand satellites into orbit since launching the internet-beaming constellation in early 2018.

The long line of lights in the sky confused many observers. Picture: U/Rdub001 (Reddit)

Musk is hoping to sell internet access across the globe, particularly to those in rural areas and other parts of the world who don’t already have access to high-speed data.

“Starlink is ideally suited for areas of the globe where connectivity has typically been a challenge,” the Starlink website reads.

“Unbounded by traditional ground infrastructure, Starlink can deliver high-speed broadband internet to locations where access has been unreliable or completely unavailable.”

Deployment of 60 Starlink satellites confirmed, completing SpaceX’s 10th mission this year pic.twitter.com/c15BveB3QE

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 7, 2021

Starlink customers simply need to plonk a small satellite dish on their roof to gain access to the growing internet provider. This would be ideal for vast expanses of the Australian landscape, though it is only offered in the US, Canada and a small selection of countries at this time, with a worldwide rollout planned for 2022.

On Thursday, SpaceX deployed another 60 Starlink satellites into orbit, which was the 10th mission this year alone and explains the strange sighting above the Australian eastern sky.

Elon Musk has set out to offer high-speed internet to remote communities across the globe. Picture: Brendan Smialowski / AFP