Friday, November 16, 2018

SpaceX Authorized To Launch Massive, 7,518 Satellite Constellation

Hawthorne-based space launch provider SpaceX, led by technology mogul Elon Musk, has just been given permission to launch a massive, 7,518 satellites into space, designed to provide saturated broadband communications across the globe. The FCC said on Thursday that it would allow the new, SpaceX satellite constellation, on top of another 4,425 satellites it already had been given permission to deploy into space. The launch of that many satellites would dwarf the current number of satellites current in operation in space, a number that currently is only around 2,000 in total. SpaceX has successfully launched two of its prototypes for the satellite constellation, which would involve fleets of "cubesat" designs, very small satellites designed to be easily launched from both SpaceX and other launch platforms. (Image: The successful SpaceX launch on Thursday of the Es'hail-2 satellite from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida).

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