SpaceX has officially asked the Federal Communications Commission to launch thousands of internet providing satellites to orbit the Earth. The project aims to make high-speed internet connection available for all.
SpaceX is an American aerospace company founded in 2002 by Elon Musk. It designs, manufactures, and launches spacecraft and rocket into space. The company now plans to launch 4,425 internet providing satellites in space that will orbit the Earth giving high-speed internet.
According to Spaceflight Insider, SpaceX files a request to Federal Communications Commission or FCC to launch its 4,425 internet providing satellite project. Elon Musk's plan is to launch initial 1,600 of satellites via a spacecraft. Once successful, an additional 2,825 will follow, completing its plan to cover specific space areas around the Earth.
Elon Musk's SpaceX spacecraft will orbit the earth in 83 different orbital planes with an altitude ranging from 715 miles or 1,150 kilometers to 790 miles or 1,325 kilometers. The spacecraft inclination will range from 53 to 81 degrees. The internet providing satellites will have the size of a Mini Cooper car and can weigh as much as 850 pounds, Business Insider reported.
SpaceX application pointed out that it plans "to provide a wide range of broadband and communications services for residential, commercial, institutional, governmental and professional users worldwide. Elon Musk said that this project will cost the company $10 to $15 billion dollars just with building the internet providing satellites.
However, Elon Musk dream for SpaceX might slow down since internet providing satellites will not work without building terminals to where it will send and receive data. Musk believes that China may not support the project and said that "obviously, any given country can say it's illegal to have a ground link."
China is known to have "the Great Firewall," a kind of censorship technology which routes and block news on the web that the Chinese government doesn't like. Elon Musk said that China can destroy SpaceX terminal and internet providing satellites if the Chinese government finds the project intrusive.
Meanwhile, if Elon Musk's SpaceX project is approved, the company will gain big revenue, which he intends to do according to his FCC application. One thing is for sure, if SpaceX's plans succeeded with the internet providing satellites, the internet speed per end user will be up to 1Gbps.
