
SpaceX may completely change the future of the Internet with one major proposal that is very, very ambitious.
SpaceX has some very, very big plans in store, and it could totally change connectivity here on Earth. Essentially, SpaceX wants to completely surround the Earth with an internet service 200 times faster than what we have here on Earth, and it’s filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission to launch 4,425 satellites to accomplish this.
Considering the fact that there are currently 1,419 active satellites orbiting the Earth, that is an insane amount of satellites, and even with the 2,600 non-working satellites, SpaceX would have a fleet of satellites larger than everything that’s been put into space so far.
However, these won’t be your standard satellites. Each satellite would weigh 386 kilograms, compared to the several tons that some telecommunications satellites weigh.
Meanwhile, SpaceX just scored another big contract, as NASA awarded them the rights to launch a Falcon 9 carrying an Earth science satellite in 2021.
“Designed to make the first-ever global survey of Earth’s surface water, in addition to high-resolution ocean measurements, the SWOT mission will collect detailed measurements of how water bodies on Earth change over time,” the NASA statement reads. “The satellite will survey at least 90 percent of the globe, studying Earth’s lakes, rivers, reservoirs and oceans, at least twice every 21 days, aid in freshwater management around the world, to improve ocean circulation models and weather and climate predictions. The SWOT spacecraft will be jointly developed and managed by NASA and the French space agency Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES).”
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