SpaceX asks permission to launch another 30,000 internet satellites

SpaceX has submitted a new application to the International Telecommunication Union to expand its Starlink internet satellite network to add another 30,000 to the already planned 12,000 satellites.

The website SpaceNews writes that the US telecom regulator FCC has submitted a total of 20 new applications on behalf of SpaceX, with each application for 1,500 Starlink satellites. These additional 30,000 satellites are to be placed in various low Earth orbits, operating at altitudes between 328 and 580km.

After applying to the ITU, a company must launch a satellite within seven years and keep it operational for at least 90 days. If that is not possible, the allocated frequency rights will be released again. Perhaps that policy will soon be tightened up; At the end of this month, the World Radiocommunication Conference will start in Egypt, where regulators are expected to set stricter rules for megaconstellations such as the proposed Starlink network.

An application to the International Telecommunication Union does not automatically mean that SpaceX will finally build and launch all 30,000 satellites. Tim Farrar, a telecom analyst who is more often critical of, among others, SpaceX, says on Twitter that this large request from Elon Musk’s company is primarily an attempt to bombard the ITU with studies so that the Starlink network can continue in the meantime. Brian Weeden of the Secure World Foundation tells MIT Technology Review that filing the paperwork with the ITU could be an attempt to cut the competition ahead.

The International Telecommunication Union is part of the United Nations and applications submitted to it represent an early step in a long-term journey to launch communications satellites into orbit. In an application to the ITU, SpaceX must set out details such as the frequencies to be used, the proposed orbits around the Earth, and the number of satellites desired. More information should be provided later in a filing with the FCC.

SpaceX launched the first 60 Starlink satellites for high-speed broadband internet in May. Later this month, another 60 should go up. Originally, the plan was to complete the network in 2027. Partly because a significant part of the satellites orbits the earth in relatively low orbits, the latency for users should be around 30ms.