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SpaceX Seeks Approval For Up To 1M Earth Stations for Its Satellite Service (geekwire.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the satellite-internet dept.

SpaceX just filed a new earth-station license application with America's Federal Communications Commisions, seeking blanket approval "for up to a million earth stations" for customers of their Starlink satellite internet service, reports GeekWire: Those satellites have already received clearance from the FCC, and SpaceX plans to launch the first elements of the initial 4,425-satellite constellation this year, using Falcon 9 rockets.... Eventually, SpaceX wants to build up the network to take in as many as 12,000 satellites in low Earth orbit...

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said the Starlink project aims is to provide high-speed, reliable and affordable broadband data services to consumers in the U.S. and around the world, including an estimated 3.8 billion people who are underserved by existing networks. When he unveiled the project four years ago in Seattle, he said revenue from the internet service would pay for his vision of creating a city on Mars.
The application assures regulators that the earth stations will "incorporate advanced technologies to enable highly efficient use of the spectrum and enhance the customer's broadband experience."

7 of 74 comments (clear)

  1. Revolutionary by Dan+East · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If SpaceX pulls this off, it will revolutionize connectivity around the world. Many, many ISP monopolies (companies that have a stranglehold on small isolated populated areas due to buying up their telco or cable) will FINALLY have to compete. There are vast stretches of the United States with utter crap internet offerings. This is going to shake up everything from internet, to the cell phone carriers, to the "internet of things".

    There are many multi-billion dollar companies that stand to lose tremendous amounts of money from this, while the general population of the world stands to gain a great deal of freedom and choice. Again, if SpaceX pulls this off, it will be one of the milestones in modern human history, and it will make SpaceX unbelievably wealthy.

    --
    Better known as 318230.
    1. Re: Revolutionary by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yea but then you have one big monopoly in the sky... remember when googles motto was do no evil?

      A business is only a monopoly if people are forced to use it. Like, for instance, today's rural Internet access. If you're lucky, there is broadband cable available to your neighborhood. But because there is never more than one provider outside large cities, a satellite alternative would be good competition.

    2. Re: Revolutionary by treymichaelcook · · Score: 3, Informative

      Nothing stopping other companies from setting up their own satellite networks, well unless SpaceX starts refusing to launch satellites for other networks, and other launch providers can't match the SpaceX price. Anyways though, there will still be competition from other land based internet services; for that matter, Starlink could actually end up improving those ground based networks - many cell phone providers will be very interested in using Starlink to provide the backhaul on their 5G cell phone towers, for example.

  2. Re:Is anyone else concerned... by mentil · · Score: 5, Interesting

    LEO has enough atmospheric drag that without regular boosts, debris/satellites will deorbit and burn up within a few months. There won't be a permanent debris field in LEO. Furthermore, satellites are small. At the same altitude, they're all traveling at the same speed to maintain orbit. Reaching end to end on the surface of the Earth, imagine how many cars could drive with a few cars' lengths between them. Now reduce that to 1 cars' length because you know the satellites are never going to slam on their brakes. Also LEO has a larger diameter than the equator, so bump that up by a bit. It's a very large number. Then there are other orbit angles and slightly different altitudes...

    --
    Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
  3. Re:Bring It On by 110010001000 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Good point. SpaceX is owned by an ex-Paypal executive.

  4. Problem for Astronomical Photography? by irchans · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I wonder if thousands of satellites will mess up astronomy. Right now, when I take a 30 minute exposure, it is very unusual for a satellite to pass through the frame destroying the image. (Maybe a few times per thousand hours of observing.) But with thousands of satellites or potentially one day millions of satellites...

  5. Re:Is anyone else concerned... by treymichaelcook · · Score: 5, Informative

    To add some math about the amount of available space - the Earth has a surface area of 510 million square kilometers. Give each satellite a comfortable 25x25km block (625km^2) area in its orbit, and each plane can hold over 800,000 satellites. Add in that in the LEO orbits these satellites are in will bring any debris or broken satellites down in 10 years or so, and things will be fine.