Crew members from the Polaris dawn mission, led by American billionaire and civilian astronaut Jared Isaacman (4th from left), turn over SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet kits to staff of the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City on April 19, 2023. Courtesy: Davao City Information Office
DAVAO CITY — The Southern Philippines Medical Center's (SPMC) House of Hope Foundation for Kids with Cancer on Tuesday received a donation of two Starlink kits, giving its beneficiaries satellite internet access from Elon Musk's SpaceX.
The kits were given by members of the commercial space program "Polalris" and non-government organization St. Jude Global, both based in the United States.
The SPMC is the first of five chosen St. Jude Global partners worldwide to receive Starlink kits from Polaris, the civilian spaceflight program organized by American billionaire Jared Isaacman aiming to achieve the first private spacewalk using flights from SpaceX.
Aside from the Philippines, St. Jude Global partners from Brazil, Chile, Mozambique, and Peru will also be given the said satellite broadband kits.
The turnover of high-speed broadband internet is geared at providing “greater access to online medical conferencing, case and image sharing, and diagnostic assistance” for the SPMC.
Isaacman himself, along with the crew members from his program's first mission Polaris Dawn, traveled to Davao City to personally give the kits.
Other members of the mission are Mission Pilot Scott Poteet, Mission Specialist Sarah Poteet, Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Anna Menon.
House of Hope founding director Dr. Mae Dolendo and other SPMC doctors welcomed the donors and presided the turnover. St. Jude Global affiliates and patrons to the House of Hope foundation were also present during the event.
The two Starlink kits are now installed at the SPMC: one for the House of Hope foundation and the other for the rest of the SPMC medical compound.
Lingap Program Head Patrick Celis said the local government is grateful for the donation as good internet access would improve the efficiency of SPMC's operations, especially in information sharing and medical research.
"We are very happy that the SPMC was chosen, especially the House of Hope because a lot of children will surely benefit," Celis said in Cebuano.
— report from Hernel Tocmo
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