SpaceX got the go-ahead for the implementation of Starlink satellite internet (4 photos)

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approvedSpaceX, a long-term project of the private aerospace company SpaceX to deploy Starlink satellites in Earth orbit to create affordable high-speed Internet throughout the planet. According to the idea of ​​the developers, the implementation of the plan should begin as early as May of this year. True, the FCC allowed the launch of telecommunications devices in lower orbits than originally planned by the company.

& times

As originally planned, SpaceX plannedplace 4,425 of its Starlink satellites in orbits ranging from 1,110 to 1,325 km above the Earth. However, after the launch of the experimental Tintin-A and Tintin-B apparatuses, the company corrected the project. As a result, the FCC approved the revised SpaceX plan to launch 1,500 satellites to an altitude of 550 km. According to calculations, this will reduce the delay time of signal transmission, and the total number of satellites in the orbital space of the planet. In turn, this will reduce the amount of space debris and possible situations of collision with other spacecraft. Although the latter is unlikely, Starlink satellites have engines that will allow you to perform the necessary maneuvers for evasion.

Note that not everyone is happy about the approval of the SpaceX project. The company has competitors in the face of OneWeb, which has already launched 6 of the 650 planned satellites, Kepler Communications and Amazon. All of the above technical plans for the deployment of a global Internet. In addition, SpaceX intends to launch a total of more than 11 thousand telecommunication satellites into Earth orbit over the course of 6 years, and this is not enough. Some already call Ilona Mask a “parasite” of the near-Earth space of the planet.

Source: theverge.com