SpaceX gets nod to put 12,000 satellites in orbit

SpaceX got the green light this week from US authorities to put a constellation of nearly 12,000 satellites into orbit in order to boost cheap, wireless internet access by the 2020s.

The SpaceX network would vastly multiply the number of satellites around Earth. Since the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik, was launched in 1957, humanity has sent just over 8,000 objects into space, according to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. Between one quarter and one half of those are believed to still be operational.

Elon Musk's company has six years to put half in orbit, and nine years to complete the satellite network. SpaceX wants most of the satellites to fly in low Earth orbit, about 208 to 215 miles (335 to 346 kilometers) high. That would put them below the International Space Station, which orbits about 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth.

Read more at Phys.org

Image Credit: SpaceX

-jk-