FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Launch Nearly 1,600 Internet Satellites in Lower Orbit

The Federal Communications Commission has approved SpaceX's plan to fly a fleet of Starlink Internet transmission satellites into a "lower than expected" orbit, Verge said on Saturday.

Originally, SpaceX planned to launch 4,425 Starlink satellites (its long-term goal is to launch close to 12,000) over distances of approximately 1,90 to 1,325 km. This plan was approved by the FCC in early 2018. But the company then decided, based on test data, to put 1,584 of these satellites into orbit at a much lower altitude, about 550 km. SpaceX argued that a lower altitude would allow it to reduce the latency to 15 milliseconds and divide the total number of satellites by 16 without reducing coverage, writes the Verge. The low altitude would also allow all orbiting satellites to burn quickly instead of clogging a terrestrial orbit with space debris, which was the concern of a recent NASA study.

The competing satellite Internet company OneWeb and satellite operator Kepler Communications both opposed the plan, saying Starlink could cause signal interference at the lowest altitude and even present a collision risk. In its approval, the FCC found that "the modification proposed by SpaceX does not pose a significant interference problem and is in the public interest".

The FCC added that SpaceX claimed that "all of its satellites being powered and manageable to avoid collisions, they are considered to pose no risk to other satellites in this orbital region." altitude will ensure a success rate of post mission removal of 100% within 5 years, even assuming the most adverse conditions. … even with the worst assumptions that go far beyond any realistic scenario. "

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell told Verge in a statement: "This endorsement underscores the FCC's confidence in SpaceX's plans to deploy its next-generation satellite constellation and connect people around the world with service. reliable and affordable broadband. "

While webcasting from satellites seems like a good idea on paper, many other companies have had problems with their own similar projects. Facebook's Athena project, after failing to make the drones work, turned to satellites in order to launch them in early 2019 (this is not the case). Google is working on Project Loon, which aims to transmit LTE in remote areas of the world with hot air balloons, but it has had many accidents and is currently the subject of a major dispute over patents. Amazon has announced its own initiative.

There is no guarantee that these projects will meet expectations as soon as possible. As Gizmodo has already noted, even if they succeed, high-tech companies will take the opportunity to create monopolies in countries with the least Internet infrastructure, which will generate many negative externalities.

SpaceX has a tight schedule: as the Verge wrote, "the approval of this constellation by the FCC is contingent upon SpaceX's ability to launch at least half of these satellites over the next six years. " For its part, SpaceX told Verge in his statement that he has already produced a Starlink satellite series and that he is about to start launching them in May.

[The Verge]