Culture

SpaceX Is Building a Network of Internet-Providing Satellites

Elon Musk's company outlined its plan for the satellite network to the U.S. Senate on Thursday.

SpaceX’s proposed satellite constellation – 4,425 broadband internet satellites – could provide the entire world with high-speed internet access. (ESA)

SpaceX’s proposed satellite constellation – 4,425 broadband internet satellites – could provide the entire world with high-speed internet access. (ESA)

By Matthew Reitman

SpaceX has plans to bring improved internet connectivity to the final frontier.

The company plans build a network of satellites surrounding the planet that beam Internet connectivity down to the surface.

SpaceX representatives informed Senate members it wants to have the first satellite in orbit by 2019, before bringing the entire network online in 2024.

The network designed by Elon Musk’s private space company calls for 4,425 satellites, orbiting on 83 planes between 1,110 kilometers and 1,325 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. That would triple the number of objects in orbit, according to The Verge.

The private space company has delivered satellites into orbit, as well was delivering supplies to the ISS. (SpaceX)

Aside from being ambitious, the plan could make future space missions more dangerous in the cluttered space around the planet. But, it would mean access to reliable, fast internet for just about anyone on Earth.

In a meeting with the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, SpaceX’s vice president of satellite government affairs, Patricia Cooper, a prototype of the Internet satellite could be launched as early as later this year.

The network will be built in phases, using the company’s on Falcon 9 rockets to deliver them into low-Earth orbit.

Exit mobile version