SpaceX Wants to Launch 12,000 Satellites
Elon Musk (Credit: SpaceX)
SpaceX has filed a new application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for approval to launch a constellation of 7,518 satellites to provide communications in the little used V band.
The system is in addition to another constellations of 4,425 satellites (plus orbital spares) SpaceX proposed in November that would operate in the Ku and Ka bands. In total, the two constellations would have 11,943 spacecraft plus spares.
“When combined into a single, coordinated system, these ‘LEO’ and ‘VLEO’ constellations will enable SpaceX to provide robust broadband services on a full and continuous global basis,” SpaceX said in its application.
Competitor OneWeb has submitted a new application that would add an additional 2,000 satellites capable of operating in the V-band to its planned constellation of 720 satellites.
OneWeb’s initial LEO constellation would provide global satellite Internet using the Ka- and Ku-bands. A second constellation of 720 LEO satellites would be enhanced with a V-band payload.
OneWeb also has applied to launch 1,280 satellites into medium Earth orbit (MEO) of altitude 8,500 km.
The SpaceX and OneWeb applications to meet a March 1 deadline for plans to use the V-band. The deadline was set in response to a proposal filed in November by Boeing for a constellation of 2,956 V-band satellites.
Three other companies also filed proposals for V-band constellations. Telesat Canada proposed building 117 satellites plus spares to operate with this band. The spacecraft would be based on Ka-band constellation the company proposed in November.
O3b has applied to operate 24 satellites in the V-band. In November, the company applied for a license to operate 60 spacecraft in the Ka-band.
Theia Holdings also filed an application on March 1 to add V-band communications to its planned constellation of 112 Ka-band satellites. The constellation will form a integrated Earth observation and communications network.
The table below shows applications before the FCC. The number of satellites totals 18,470.
| NGSO APPLICATIONS TO FCC | |||||
| COMPANY | LOCATION |
NO. OF SATELLITES |
BANDS | SERVICES | |
| SpaceX | Hawthorne, CA | 7,518 | V |
Global broadband | |
| SpaceX | Hawthorne, CA | 4,425 | Ka, Ku | Global broadband | |
| Boeing | Seattle, WA | 2,956 | V | Advanced communications, Internet-based services | |
| OneWeb |
Arlington, VA | 1,280 | Ka, Ku, V |
MEO Global broadband | |
| OneWeb | Arlington, VA | 720 | Ka, Ku |
First Generation LEO Global broadband | |
| OneWeb | Arlington, VA | 720 | Ka, Ku, V |
Second Generation LEO Global broadband | |
| Kepler Communications | Toronto, ONT | 140 | Ku | Machine-to-machine communications (Internet of Things) | |
| Telesat Canada | Ottawa, ONT | 117 | Ka | Wide band and narrow band communications services | |
| Telesat Canada | Ottawa, ONT | 117 | V | Wide band and narrow band communications services | |
| Theia Holdings A, Inc. | Philadelphia, PA | 112 | Ka, V |
Integrated Earth observation and communications network | |
| Spire Global | San Francisco, CA | 100 | AIS, ASM, GNSS | Maritime monitoring, meteorological monitoring, and earth imaging services | |
| LeoSat MA | Pompano Beach, FL | 80 | Ka | Broadband services | |
| Boeing | Seattle, WA | 60 | Ka | Very high speed connectivity for end-user earth stations | |
| O3b | Washington, DC | 60 | Ka | Broadband services | |
| O3b | Washington, DC | 24 | V | Broadband services | |
| ViaSat | Carlsbad, CA | 24 | Ka, V | Broadband services | |
| Karousel LLC | Alexandria, VA | 12 | Ka | Communications | |
| Audacy Communications | Walnut, CA | 3 | K, V | Data relay constellation providing satellite operators with seamless access to NGSO satellites | |
| Space Norway AS | Oslo, Norway | 2 | Ka, Ku | Arctic broadband | |
6 responses to “SpaceX Wants to Launch 12,000 Satellites”
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There’s also at least one internet constellation plan outside FCC jurisdiction; CASIC’s Hongyun. It’s supposed to use 156 sats at 1,000km altitude, and a tech demo sat for it was launched a couple days back. Full constellation would start deployment in 2019 and be finished by 2021.
https://www.chinaspacefligh…
I’m having trouble reading that page. All the text is garbled. 😉
OneWeb also has applied to launch 1,280 satellites into medium Earth orbit (MEO) of altitude 8,500 km.
I believe this one less than the shot around the Moon. I think that one will even eventually happen. I’ll be pleasantly happy when if this sat constellation comes true, but I think this is a ploy to attract investor money to pour into Space X without having to sell shares in Space X. Which is fine with me, but I smell a con job. Space X can’t even launch their current backlog. … Yes very soon that will change, but look at Falcon, under development for almost a decade, and not done yet, Falcon Heavy now over 5 years late. Hope they get a lot of money to finish Falcon from this.
SpaceX current backlog value: ~$10B.
Falcon 9 Block 5 (final Falcon 9 version) will be announced by the end of the year.
Falcon Heavy will be launched this fall.
Soon 4 launch pads.
And the ITS is already in the development stage:
http://i.imgur.com/HETVzh9.jpg
http://www.smartworld.it/wp…
only 12000?