Elon Musk is back and if for weeks we have been able to see how part of its companies evolve, SolarCiTy and Tesla are united in one, SpaceX continues to develop its projects with which to be the first to take humans to Mars, development in intelligence artificial ... Now he surprises us with a formal request to the Federal Communications Commission of the United States to manage to deploy what he himself has called a world internet network.
Specifically, we are talking about a project that was announced in 2015 and that it is within the activities of SpaceX. Among the most striking details, apart from the fact that Google is one of the main investors, it should be noted that they intend to put into orbit nothing less than 4.425 satellites capable of providing internet connection of up to 1 Gbps worldwide. A project that, although it is not without many doubts, the truth is that it is now one step closer to becoming a reality.
It is unknown if this global Internet network will be for free connections or for a service that will promote Elon Musk companies and some Google services.
At the moment, the only certainty is that it will be the Federal Communications Commission of the United States that finally agrees or not to carry out this project. Among the documents delivered for study and evaluation we find some quite interesting information about the project, such as that it requires a investment of 10.000 million dollars. Each of the satellites will have a weight of 386 kilograms and their design is designed so that they can offer a shelf life of five to seven years. During this period of time, they will orbit the Earth at an altitude of between 1.150 and 1.325 kilometers, which means that they will be above the International Space Station whose orbit is 431 kilometers high.
Continuing with the data of this project, it is estimated that it will be developed in two steps very different. During the first SpaceX will put into orbit 800 satellites destined to provide internet services to the United States and «other areas»(It is not specified which ones) for, already in a second stage and during the next five years, proceed to launch the following satellites until completing the 4.425 that will be put into orbit.
Further information: Reuters