Home
Telecom
Telecom News
SpaceX Gains US FCC Approval to Launch High Broadband Satellite Services

SpaceX Gains US FCC Approval to Launch High-Broadband Satellite Services

By Reuters | Updated: 30 March 2018 15:40 IST

The top US telecommunications regulator on Thursday gave formal approval to a plan by Elon Musk's SpaceX to build a global broadband network using satellites.

"This is the first approval of a US-licenced satellite constellation to provide broadband services using a new generation of low-Earth orbit satellite technologies," the Federal Communications Commission said in a statement.

The system proposed by privately held SpaceX, as Space Exploration Holdings is known, will use 4,425 satellites, the FCC said.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in February had endorsed the SpaceX effort, saying: "Satellite technology can help reach Americans who live in rural or hard-to-serve places where fibre optic cables and cell towers do not reach."

The Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday that SpaceX plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket on April 2 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. "The rocket will carry a communications satellite," the FAA said.

The FCC said SpaceX has been granted authority to use frequencies in the Ka (20/30 GHz) and Ku (11/14 GHz) bands.

Musk, who is also the founder and chief executive of electric automaker Tesla, said in 2015 that SpaceX planned to launch a satellite-Internet business that would help fund a future city on Mars.

SpaceX wanted to create a "global communications system" that Musk compared to "rebuilding the Internet in space." It would be faster than traditional Internet connections, he said.

Over the past year, the FCC has approved requests by OneWeb, Space Norway and Telesat to access the US market to provide broadband services using satellite technology that the FCC said "holds promise to expand Internet access in remote and rural areas across the country."

About 14 million rural Americans and 1.2 million Americans on tribal lands lack mobile broadband even at relatively slow speeds.

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, said on Thursday that the agency needs "to prepare for the proliferation of satellites in our higher altitudes."

She highlighted the issue of orbital debris and said the FCC "must coordinate more closely with other federal actors to figure out what our national policies are for this jumble of new space activity."

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.