Space Internet gets government approval, must be operational within a few years

[Legend]

https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-349998A1.pdf

Yeah that's right, SpaceX got the spectrum licenses!!!

50% of the constellation must be launched by 2024. That'd be one satellite a day if they started now.

[Xevross]

What does this mean?

[Legend]

What does this mean?

SpaceX is launching thousands of satellites into low earth orbit that will be able to supply the entire planet with high speed low latency internet. All you need is a pizza sized dish to send/receive.

Such an operation is a huge undertaking and requires specific radio frequencies so there has been a big battle between many companies to try and secure the rights. The government has officially given SpaceX clearance to use the radio frequencies, so now they need to start launching. If SpaceX fails to hit some of the deadlines, then they lose the license.

[Dr. Pezus]

Elon just won't stop

[DD_Bwest]

woah big news.  this is how mars gets financed.  the amount of money to be made is huge.

[Legend]

woah big news.  this is how mars gets financed.  the amount of money to be made is huge.

Tons of money and just super good for the world too. Basically means that almost every human on Earth will have access to good internet.

A child living in a small village in Nepal can be just as connected to the world as a child living in New York.

[Dr. Pezus]

Tons of money and just super good for the world too. Basically means that almost every human on Earth will have access to good internet.

A child living in a small village in Nepal can be just as connected to the world as a child living in New York.

Will this improve mobile coverage too?

[Legend]

Will this improve mobile coverage too?

Not unless your phone is the size of a pizza box.

[Dr. Pezus]

Not unless your phone is the size of a pizza box.

Good thing I have a galaxy 8+

[Kerotan]

Tons of money and just super good for the world too. Basically means that almost every human on Earth will have access to good internet.

A child living in a small village in Nepal can be just as connected to the world as a child living in New York.

But this is only rights for the USA? How will they do this WW if they don't get permission from every government?

[the-pi-guy]

But this is only rights for the USA? How will they do this WW if they don't get permission from every government?

You still have to have something to connect to the satellites.  

They don't need permission for this anymore than they needed permission for GPS.  

[Legend]

But this is only rights for the USA? How will they do this WW if they don't get permission from every government?

The satellites orbit every part of the planet and this gives them permission to set up the satellites. People with a contract would be able to use the service anywhere on Earth, but SpaceX will likely need to work on a country by country basis for getting permission to sell the service to users inside that country. Also places like China could demand the satellites to turn off when above their borders.

You still have to have something to connect to the satellites.  

They don't need permission for this anymore than they needed permission for GPS.  

It's different. GPS devices only receive the signals while the internet devices would need active communication. The satellites beam the internet to specific users instead of broadcasting a wide beam to everyone.

[the-pi-guy]

It's different. GPS devices only receive the signals while the internet devices would need active communication. The satellites beam the internet to specific users instead of broadcasting a wide beam to everyone.

Well if you want to get technical .

[Legend]

Well if you want to get technical .

It means that the receivers need local government approval to operate at that spectrum.

[the-pi-guy]

GPS isn't legal everywhere either, though.