SpaceX Applies To Test Internet Service Satellites

lpress writes: Elon Musk's SpaceX and Greg Wyler's OneWeb both hope to provide global Internet access using constellations of low-Earth orbit satellites. Neither company plans to be in operation for several years, but Musk's SpaceX is ready to test two satellites. They have applied for permission to launch two satellites that will orbit at 625 km. Time reports: "The application describes two satellites, the first of up to eight trial satellites that are each expected to last up to 12 months. The satellites will likely be built using the $1 billion that SpaceX raised mostly from Google earlier this year. For these first tests, the launch location will likely be Vandenberg Air Force Base on the California coast rather than Cape Canaveral in Florida, according to the orbital parameters in the application."

Comments

Re:More Republican corporate welfare

[garyisabusyguy]

Um, yeah... I remember having a teacher in the 70's who said things like 'no space exploration until every human is fed' and 'explore the ocean first... blah, blah, blah'

My reply at thirteen was uncouth but similar to my feelings now, which could be summed up as, 'all of this money spent on space systems is a fraction of the annual interest on the money sponged up by the dictators who are preventing food and financial aid from making it to the starving people of their countries'

The benefits, or return on investment, for launching these sort of systems is significant or business people like Musk would never consider it. Compare that to the benefits of making another Mugabe as rich as King Solomon