Elon Musk’s SpaceX moved closer to winning permission to fly its satellites at a lower orbit than initially planned, after the leader of the Federal Communications Commission endorsed the proposal. SpaceX asked to fly 2,824 Starlink satellites in the lower orbit, where the company already has permission to operate 1,584 spacecraft. Amazon in 2020 won FCC permission for 3,236 of its Kuiper satellites and has yet to launch any. Consolidating satellites at the lower orbit would raise collision risks because large numbers would be operating in congested space, Viasat said in a filing. A lower orbit allows quicker internet service because the signal doesn’t travel as far.

Source: The Irish Times April 26, 2021 07:06 UTC