SpaceX founder Elon Musk says he expects the company’s satellites to begin providing internet connectivity in roughly six months.
A private beta of the service is anticipated in about three months, with a public beta following in around six months. That initial public rollout will focus on satellites placed at higher latitudes.
SpaceX first launched operational high-latitude satellites in May 2019. Because these satellites are positioned at high latitudes, connectivity may be intermittent and speeds are likely to be modest compared with low-latency systems.
Last year, regulators approved SpaceX to deploy up to 4,425 satellites at altitudes between 1,110 km and 1,325 km. In April, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted permission for 1,584 of those satellites to operate at a lower altitude, roughly half the original height.
FCC commissioner Ajit Pai said at the time that proposed constellations could deliver a range of services, from high-speed broadband in remote regions to global connectivity for Internet of Things devices acting as “routers in space” for data backhaul.
SpaceX listed several reasons for wanting to operate satellites at lower altitudes:
- Improved performance – Operating closer to Earth reduces latency and increases capacity. SpaceX estimates latency could be as low as 25 ms, comparable to many current fiber connections.
- Reduced debris risk – Authorising 1,584 satellites to operate at about 550 km rather than 1,110–1,325 km allows SpaceX to achieve coverage goals with fewer satellites in that orbital band. Lowering altitude also increases the likelihood that non-operational satellites will re-enter the atmosphere and burn up, rather than remaining in orbit as long-term collision hazards.
Expanding on the debris argument, SpaceX notes that satellites in lower orbits experience greater atmospheric drag when they fail or reach end of life, making them more likely to deorbit sooner and burn up in the atmosphere instead of contributing to long-lived space debris and collision risk.
A NASA study on orbital debris found that if satellites are not removed from orbit within five years of failure, the probability of collisions rises substantially. This finding underscores the importance of timely deorbiting to maintain a safer orbital environment.
Last week, SpaceX filed an update with the FCC requesting another license modification that would permit launching further satellites to an even lower altitude, while slightly reducing the total number to 4,408 instead of the previously authorised 4,425.
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