SpaceX has launched into orbit around more than 350 Starlinks that will soon beam high-speed internet into the earth. Notably, the tech company has just been approved to build fixed earth stations to harness the beamed internet to its consumers. FCC granted permission to build up to 1 million ground-based terminals for their operations. The license took almost a year from their request which is good for 15 years.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, told that the terminals will be like a “UFO on a stick” and will be easy to install —-plug and play. It has built-in actuators to ensure that they are always pointing properly in the right direction.The Starlink aims to reach those internet-deprived places around the globe. Normally, ISPs came from cell towers and cables are limited to reach to remote and rural areas. Musk is eyeing to change that with this project, providing reliable internet at an affordable price. SpaceX has the approval to launch 12,000 satellites, as of now, it has 1,584 in the orbit and could potentially seek permission to launch 30 thousand more to improve its global coverage. SpaceX will need 400 and 800 Starlink satellites launched into the orbit to provide minor and moderate coverage, respectively. They could roll out their services this year into part of the U.S. and Canada with global coverage soon after.
1 million user terminals are not near to the numbers of possible consumers in the U.S. but the company’s CEO told that they will be targetting those places that are hard to reach by the traditional telcos and besides it will not be competing in major cities since it will not have ultra-high bandwidth vs. ISPs which have focused services on this areas.
