SpaceX Receives FCC Approval to Launch Low Earth Orbit Internet Satellites into Space

cageymaru

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SpaceX has won FCC approval to launch 7,518 Starlink low Earth orbit internet satellites into space. These satellites will initially create a blanket of internet coverage for the USA, but the program is expected to expand worldwide as SpaceX seeks to broaden the network to 12,000 units. Kepler Communications and LeoSat also won FCC approval to place low Earth orbit satellites into space. The Ku-band and Ka-band satellites from SpaceX will be created in-house. Half of the satellites must be placed into space within 6 years and the rest within 9 years. For fun, I am including a video of the SpaceX Es'hail-2 Mission satellite launch to provide internet for the Middle East and North Africa that was done yesterday.

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said the constellations that advanced today are evidence of a major shift in space activities, since the number of approved satellites nearly equals the 8,126 objects that have been launched into space since Sputnik in 1957. "Do the math: it adds up to a next generation space race," she said. "New commercial models, players and technologies are all coming together and rapidly multiplying the range of satellite services. With these new services come all kinds of opportunities."

Of the four, SpaceX is by far the largest with 7,518 satellites constituting what it calls a "very low Earth orbit," or VLEO constellation that would operate slightly below 350-kilometers. At that altitude, SpaceX says atmospheric drag would pull spent satellites down in one month, assuaging concerns about the magnitude of debris that that many satellites could create in higher orbits.
 
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Wonderful! The arrow in the image indicates where they are going to put it.

dsJhaAw.jpg
 

DrBorg

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I wanna ride!

Hell, I'd have ridden the Tesla to mars, lol.

Some O2, some porn, and my music collection, and I'd have went for the Heavy Metal landing. :)
 
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Krenum

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Whooptie freaken do!

Mission to Mars, Asteroid Mining, something new please!
 

pcgeekesq

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12,000 satellites -- he's going to have to hit a launch tempo of at least 30 satellites a week to hit that.
Along with the other payloads SpaceX will be launching, that probably means a launch (of a 1.2 million pound rocket) every week.
Maybe every Wednesday?
 

Laowai

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Fast enough, and eventually, everywhere.

Actually kind of crazy to think about- global <100ms high-bandwidth connections. Top of a mountain? Container ship? Every plane ride? Sahara?
China? N. Korea?

That would be interesting.
 

PaulP

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12,000 satellites -- he's going to have to hit a launch tempo of at least 30 satellites a week to hit that.
Along with the other payloads SpaceX will be launching, that probably means a launch (of a 1.2 million pound rocket) every week.
Maybe every Wednesday?
I believe the plan is to launch 100 or more per launch, so it won't take as many as you think.
 

jedijeb13

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I wonder what will happen when after 12K of these are in orbit, a ULA rocket hits one and damages a payload? That is a lot more "stuff"in orbit to have to avoid when in orbit.

FCC granted permission, but FCC doesn't regulate space itself, only transmissions to and from space.
 

gigaxtreme1

2[H]4U
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Whooptie freaken do!

Mission to Mars, Asteroid Mining, something new please!
Waste of money and Tesla roadster. Should have claimed Eros but that would require to have a person present. Should have sent a small boring machine and just started assay mining. Eros is the slow boat to Mars as it is.
 

N4CR

Supreme [H]ardness
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Fast enough, and eventually, everywhere.

Actually kind of crazy to think about- global <100ms high-bandwidth connections. Top of a mountain? Container ship? Every plane ride? Sahara?
Heard it can be lower latency (typ ~50ms) and they're expecting around DSL-type latency. Which for me is perfect and means now I can truly plan an off-grid place in the middle of ass-fuck nowhere with good enough internet.

I right now would struggle to do 15kb/sec... maybe 50-150kb/sec at 3am so anything is better. I hope this guy takes a lot of money from the shitty, incumbent ISPs that hate their clientele around the world. I hope they lose a lot of money, I will be switching to Musknet as soon as it's available.
P.s. I pay the same as everyone else with a good connection. Lovely eh!
 

DeathFromBelow

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I wonder what will happen when after 12K of these are in orbit, a ULA rocket hits one and damages a payload? That is a lot more "stuff"in orbit to have to avoid when in orbit.

Space is big. The space junk problem is caused by the need to track failed satellites and launcher debris in high altitude orbits where they can hang around for thousands of years. One of the advantages of these disposable satellite swarms in low orbits is that the sats will naturally deorbit quickly from atmospheric drag even if they completely fail.
 

Exavior

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We get enough of these out there, they block out the sun, which cools the planet.. no more global warming and internet for all. Sounds like a good deal to me.
 

pcgeekesq

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I believe the plan is to launch 100 or more per launch, so it won't take as many as you think.
Given that he hasn't started launching them yet, that's still going to mean two or three launches a month, just for this.
Don't get me wrong, I think that'd be cool.
 

Exavior

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oh joy.. just what we need.. people loudly talking on their phones during the flight

:mad:

Um.... this is only for data, which right now you can get internet access on an airplane. So nothing changes. you can't make a call cellular or voip during a flight so that doesn't change either. So it is the same as it is today, just easier access than the in flight wi-fi
 
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