Elon Musk Just Got Permission To Put 1,500 Satellites In Space To Beam Down Internet On Earth

While SpaceX's main focus is on sending astronauts to Mars, it's also attempting to improve the world's Internet with its Starlink program.

And now, the company just got the official approval of the US government that'll send it on its way to achieving that goal.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has just cleared the private space firm's plan that to send 1,584 satellites into low-Earth orbit. These microsatellites will eventually form a mesh network that weill beam down high-speed Internet from about 550km up in space.

Because these satellites will be in such a low orbit, they will supposedly cut down signal transmission time by 15 milliseconds. It'll also mean that SpaceX can send fewer than its originally intended 4,425 satellites into orbit and still make the plan work. This is a crucial step towards cutting down on the company's contribution to Earth's space junk problem.

"This approval underscores the FCC's confidence in SpaceX's plans to deploy its next-generation satellite constellation and connect people around the world with reliable and affordable broadband service," SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in a statement to The Verge.

However, other competitors like OneWeb and Kepler are not happy about this at all. They argue that the low-flying satellites with interfere with their own plans to launch satellite networks in the future. The FCC however insists that the 1500-odd satellites will not increase the risk of collisions.

The first few Starlink satellites were sent into orbit last year, but more are expected to follow soon. In fact, filings indicate even Amazon is planning to get in on the game, launching more than 3,000 satellites into LEO to bring Internet to the world.

Truly, we might be coming into an age that will be defined as the peak of the Internet.