It was confirmed on Wed by SpaceX and a United Nations agency that the company desires spectrum access of nearly 4x the number of satellites which was initially planned to have high-speed constellation of internet.
On Oct 7, ITU (International Telecommunication Union) based in Geneva received 20 filings from the USFCC (US Federal Communications Commission), each one requesting consent for 1,500 satellites, as told by AlexandreVallet, ITU’s chief of SSD (space services department) to AFP.
The request of SpaceX for 12K satellites had been approved. With this new request 30K more would be added to the formed network called Starlink.
The global satellite orbits and frequencies of radio spectrum are managed by the ITU and the fresh 20 filings which ITU mentioned are reflected on its official website.
Although, no confirmation has been done regarding the number by the spokeswoman of SpaceX; however, she stated that steps are being taken by the company to measure complete network capacity & data density of the Starlink to encounter the growing awaited needs of the users.
The Starlink’s main concept is that mini-satellites’ networks will enable fast response period between internet provider and the user. These satellites will create a grid so that many of them can come in direct sight from Earth’s any locus.
The initial 60 satellites were launched by SpaceX in May and it’s known that this constellation is going to be operative for northern US and the Canada next year. According to the sources another 24 launches are required to cover the rest parts of the globe.
Out of nearly 23K space objects recorded, currently 2.1K on the go satellites orbit the Earth. Rest can be inactive satellites, rocket stages, space junks and others.
However, the further addition of another 42K satellites to the orbit has become a reason of worries for dual reasons. The first is the apprehension of the astronomers that these satellites would hind the path of telescope observations that are made from the surface of Earth. The other worry is the crowding by the satellites in the Earth’s lower orbit which is just 2,000 km away.
