SpaceX's Plan to Cover World With Satellite Internet Approved by FCC
SpaceX comes one step closer to fulfilling an ambitious plan to provide broadband internet through a global array of satellites. The Federal Communications Commission has given the company a license to go through with its project, a permit that's the first of its kind.
On Thursday, March 29, the Federal Communications Commission or FCC has granted SpaceX a license to launch an operate a fleet of low-Earth orbit broadband satellites, the first license for this category that the government agency has ever given out, according to The Verge.
"With this action, the Commission takes another step to increase high-speed broadband availability and competition in the United States," the FCC also noted in a statement made out to CNBC. The FCC has also granted SpaceX a permit to operate in an unused section of the broadband spectrum being governed by the commission.
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For SpaceX co-founder and current Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, this takes the company one step closer to realizing their dream of putting up a constellation of micro-satellites around the planet. This blanket of satellites will provide broadband Internet service, with one incoming satellite providing coverage to an area just as the previous one slides out of reach in their orbits.
The company plans to call this ambitious Internet service network Starlink. SpaceX is now about to embark on a $10 billion project that will launch the micro-satellites in two phases, the first of which will be starting next year, in 2019, as Engadget reported.
"We appreciate the FCC's thorough review and approval of SpaceX's constellation license," company president Gwynne Shotwell said in a statement.
"Although we still have much to do with this complex undertaking, this is an important step toward SpaceX building a next-generation satellite network that can link the globe with reliable and affordable broadband service, especially reaching those who are not yet connected," Shotwell continued. The company's dream is to provide high-speed Internet access, at around 1 Gbps, through 4,425 satellites.
That's a number well over three times the current number of active satellites orbiting the planet, and SpaceX plans to launch at least half of their target number of satellites over the next six years. These microsatellites will be staying in low-Earth orbits, whizzing around the globe at altitudes of anywhere between 714 to 823 miles above sea level.
Microsatellites may be a misnomer here, as SpaceX plans to launch satellites that will be 850 pounds each. Every satellite that SpaceX puts up for their ambitious global broadband plan will have an expected life of five to seven years.
For now, the company is planning to launch an initial 800 satellites that will be serving the United States and other regions with broadband Internet service. With an FCC license secured at a unanimous 5–0 vote of approval, SpaceX now just have to figure out how to launch 4,425 satellites while dealing with issues of space debris and spacing them for optimal coverage.
