Internet-providing satellites on the agenda for SpaceX in 2019By Robin-Leigh Chetty 4 May 2017 | Categories: news
SpaceX, and Elon Musk in particular, has quite a bit on its plate. The company has plans to colonise Mars in the not too distant future, but the more immediate picture is to send internet-providing satellites into space.
At a US Senate hearing on broadband infrastructure, SpaceX told the American government that it planned to send its first satellite into orbit in 2019, with the entire network of internet-providing satellites up and running by 2024.
Prototype launches for the project are already scheduled to happen later this year, according to SpaceX VP for satellite government affairs, Patricia Cooper. The prototypes will be used to ascertain whether SpaceX will infact be able to beam down broadband connectivity to users in the States, after which the first proper satellite launch will be made in 2019.
SpaceX is reportedly aiming to have staggering 4 425 satellites in orbit between a range of 1 11 and 1 325 kilometres above ground, using their own Falcon 9 rockets for launches in an effort to lessen costs.
At this stage, it's unclear if the satellite network is only intended to beam down connectivity to people in the States, or if SpaceX aims to deliver broadband access to other less developed areas like Alphabet's Project Loon.
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