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IPFS News Link • FCC

FCC Authorizes SpaceX to Launch 7,000+ Satellites

• https://news.thomasnet.com, Anna Wells

Okay, not really. But the jack-of-all-tech superstar entrepreneur did just pocket a huge win, not for building cars or boring tunnels, but for SpaceX.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a press release on November 15 confirming that the agency was approving the requests of four companies — one of which is SpaceX — with satellite initiatives.

Specifically, SpaceX was authorized to launch more than 7,000 satellites as part of a collective group that will feature nearly 12,000 — all with the aim of improving internet connectivity.

Through this program, called Starlink, the 7,000+ satellites will orbit Earth between 208 and 215 miles away — just short of where you would find the International Space Station.

The theory goes that it will be easier and cheaper to improve internet access in remote and rural areas by clustering more satellites closer to the earth's surface, rather relying on the larger ones, common in telecommunications applications, that orbit much further out.


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