Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has showcased the plans to launch first 60 SpaceX Starlink satellites.
Starlink is a project by SpaceX to develop and implement a space-based internet communication system and provide high-speed internet access to everyone on the planet.
Under the project, a total of around 12,000 satellites will be launched in a low orbit above Earth. As per the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), SpaceX is allowed to launch these satellites in two groups. One group will consist of 4,409 satellites, while the other will have 7,518 satellites. The second group of satellites will operate at a lower altitude than the first.
On Saturday, Musk tweeted the photo of the first 60 Starlink satellites which were loaded into the Falcon rocket of his company. This is the initial step towards the project, which will bring high-speed internet to Earth from space, at low-cost.
The satellites under the Starlink initiative are different from other existing satellites that deliver internet services. The existing satellites provide a large footprint with an altitude of 22,000 miles, but their lag is higher because of distance.
On the other hand, the individual Starlink satellites have a smaller footprint but their lag will be significantly low. These satellites will offer bandwidth of up to 1 Gbps per second per user.
According to FCC’s approvals, SpaceX can launch half of the planned satellites within the next six years. The company had launched the two Starlink satellites in February 2018, dubbed TinTin A and TinTin B. The investors of SpaceX and Elon Musk, these two satellites performed really well.
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Now, the company is taking further steps with the launch of a set of 60 satellites, which is very likely to fly to the skies on this Wednesday.
