SpaceX sells Starlink terminals to Unipol for Italy flood relief

 Italian insurance company Unipol Gruppo SpA said it has purchased Starlink terminals from Elon Musk’s SpaceX to help with rescue and recovery efforts in flood-stricken areas of the country.

Flooding in the northern Emilia-Romagna region killed more than a dozen people and displaced about 10,000 others last week, Ansa news agency reported. Rescue workers have been working to reach dozens of villages and farms cut off by the deluge, with some 20,000 people losing access to power. 

The terminals, which provide web services beamed down from satellites, will help rescue workers and providers of essential services, as well as flood victims, to access the internet, Unipol said, adding that SpaceX will align some of its satellites to concentrate on the stricken zone. 

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is leaving the Group of Seven summit in Japan a day early to help with the response effort, according to people familiar with the situation.