Windows 10: SpaceX to launch Starlink broadband satellites into space on May 15

Read more: SpaceX to launch “dozens” of Starlink satellites May 15, more Starlink launches to follow - SpaceNews.com

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SpaceX will deliver global high-speed internet in 2019 using more than 4,000 satellites

Here are some more details directly from SpaceX's filing, which are notable:

• High capacity: Each satellite in the SpaceX System provides aggregate downlink capacity to users ranging from 17 to 23 Gbps, depending on the gain of the user terminal involved. Assuming an average of 20 Gbps, the 1600 satellites in the Initial Deployment would have a total aggregate capacity of 32 Tbps. SpaceX will periodically improve the satellites over the course of the multi-year deployment of the system, which may further increase capacity.
• High adaptability: The system leverages phased array technology to dynamically steer a large pool of beams to focus capacity where it is needed. Optical inter-satellite links permit flexible routing of traffic on-orbit. Further, the constellation ensures that frequencies can be reused effectively across different satellites to enhance the flexibility and capacity and robustness of the overall system.
• Broadband services: The system will be able to provide broadband service at speeds of up to 1 Gbps per end user. The system's use of low-Earth orbits will allow it to target latencies of approximately 25-35 ms.
• Worldwide coverage: With deployment of the first 800 satellites, the system will be able to provide U.S. and international broadband connectivity; when fully deployed, the system will add capacity and availability at the equator and poles for truly global coverage.
• Low cost: SpaceX is designing the overall system from the ground up with cost- effectiveness and reliability in mind, from the design and manufacturing of the space and ground-based elements, to the launch and deployment of the system using SpaceX launch services, development of the user terminals, and end-user subscription rates.
• Ease of use: SpaceX's phased-array user antenna design will allow for a low-profile user terminal that is easy to mount and operate on walls or roofs.
• The satellites will last between 5 years and 7 years and decay within a year after that.

SpaceX just asked permission to launch 4,425 satellites — more than orbit Earth today

 

SpaceX will deliver global high-speed internet in 2019 using more than 4,000 satellites

SpaceX wants to launch satellite internet in 2019 with initial test to be carried out by the end of this year, according to a hearing at the Senate in Washington.

Elon Musk's company plans to release more than 4,000 satellites into orbit in instalments between 2019 and 2024.

The plans will increase the number of satellites in space by 300 per cent and will create worldwide internet that could offer speeds of up to one gigabit per second - which is around 100 times faster than current home broadband.

In a Senate hearing on US Broadband infrastructure, the SpaceX vice president of government affairs, Patricia Cooper, revealed that the company wanted to launch their operations in 2019.

The network of satellites could provide 'fiber-like' speeds for a large area, according to Ms Cooper.






'The system is designed to provide a wide range of broadband and communications services for residential, commercial, institutional, governmental and professional users worldwide,' SpaceX wrote in its application.


The documents, which include technical details of the proposed network, did not mention cost estimates or financing plans.

Financial backers of the company include Alphabet's Google Inc and Fidelity Investments, which together have contributed $1 billion (£0.8bn) to Musk's space launch firm.

According to a database by the Union of Concerned Scientists, there are 1,419 active satellites currently orbiting Earth, so SpaceX's fleet would make it five times bigger.

Each satellite in SpaceX's planned group will weigh about 850 lbs (386 kg) and be roughly the size of a Mini Cooper.

They will orbit at altitudes ranging from 715 miles (1,150 km) to 790 miles (1,275 km).

From this height each satellite will be able to cover an area on the ground about around 1,300 miles (2,120 km) wide.

The proposed SpaceX network would begin with the launch of about 800 satellites to expand internet access in the United States, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the FCC filings showed.



Similar internet-via-satellite networks are under development by privately owned OneWeb and by Boeing.

Elon Musk's SpaceX to send the first of its 4,425 super-fast internet satellites into space in 2019

 

SpaceX Explodes during test fire

Satellite firm Space Communication Ltd., better known as Spacecom, has said that it may seek either $50 million or a free launch from SpaceX following the destruction of its AMOS-6 satellite on the launch pad when a Falcon 9 rocket exploded during pre-flight tests last Thursday (Reuters). The value of Spacecom's shares has plummetted since the explosion, and the company has made clear its intention to seek compensation wherever possible, including a potential $205 million from AMOS-6 builder Israel Aerospace Industries. The satellite was due to have been used by Facebook and Eutelsat to provide satellite broadband services across sub-Saharan Africa.