{"id":17941,"date":"2019-09-16T19:12:19","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T11:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-wants-to-rearrange-its-starlink-satellites-for-faster-broadband-ramp-up\/"},"modified":"2019-09-16T19:12:19","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T11:12:19","slug":"spacex-wants-to-rearrange-its-starlink-satellites-for-faster-broadband-ramp-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-wants-to-rearrange-its-starlink-satellites-for-faster-broadband-ramp-up\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX wants to rearrange its Starlink satellites for faster broadband ramp-up"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Starlink
An artist\u2019s conception shows the deployment of SpaceX\u2019s Starlink satellites. (SpaceX Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SpaceX is seeking approval from the Federal Communications Commission for changes in the spacing of its Starlink broadband satellites, in order to extend internet services to a wider swath of the United States on a faster timetable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis adjustment will accelerate coverage to southern states and U.S. territories, potentially expediting coverage to the southern continental United States by the end of the next hurricane season and reaching other U.S. territories by the following hurricane season,\u201d SpaceX said in an application filed on Aug. 30 and accepted last week.<\/p>\n

If SpaceX follows that schedule, Starlink coverage could be available throughout the 48 contiguous U.S. states by November 2020, when next year\u2019s hurricane season ends.<\/p>\n

The implication is that the adjustment would serve the public interest because territories in the potential path of a hurricane, such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, could have Starlink\u2019s satellite broadband service available to them sooner than previously planned.<\/p>\n

SpaceX emphasized that the shift in spacing wouldn\u2019t require a change in the satellites\u2019 authorized altitude or inclination, their operational characteristics or the effect on orbital debris. Instead, the 1,584 satellites covered in the application at issue would be shifted around in their orbits, tripling the number of orbital planes (to 72) but cutting the number of satellites in each plane by two-thirds (to 22).<\/p>\n

Previously, SpaceX had planned to start with service for the northern U.S., and extend service southward toward the equator over the course of six additional launches.<\/p>\n

SpaceX said it confirmed the flexibility of its deployment process by studying the performance of its first 60 Starlink satellites, which were launched in May. Three different orbital planes can be populated with a single launch, streamlining the process, the company said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proposed respacing would require fewer launches of satellites \u2014 perhaps as few as half \u2014 to initiate service to the entire contiguous United States (as well as Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Marianas Islands),\u201d SpaceX said.<\/p>\n