Giant Aerospace Company Spacex Filed Application To Launch 4425 Satellites — Will Provide 1Gbps Internet Coverage

SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by the tech entrepreneur Elon Musk decided to improve the planet Earth's high-speed internet coverage. How?

On November 15, it was reported that the company filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch 4,425 satellites.

There are 1,419 active satellites currently orbiting Earth. There are estimates of roughly 2,600 satellites that no longer work floating in space. Despite obtaining the sum of such numbers, SpaceX's planned fleet would still outnumber such current satellites orbiting the Earth, according to a database compiled by the Union of Concerned Scientists,

Some of the largest telecommunications satellites would weigh several tons, be the size of a bus, and orbit from a fixed point about 22,000 miles (35,000 km) above Earth. However, each satellite in SpaceX's planned constellation will only weigh about 850 lbs (386 kg) and be roughly the size of a MINI Cooper car. The satellites will last between 5 years and 7 years and decay within a year after that, according to Business Insider.

Said proposed satellites will orbit at altitudes ranging from 715 miles (1,150 km) to 790 miles (1,275 km). SpaceX says each satellite could cover an ellipse about 1,300 miles (2,120 km) wide.

"With the deployment of the first 800 satellites, SpaceX will be able to provide widespread U.S. and international coverage for broadband services," SpaceX wrote. "Once fully optimized through the Final Deployment, the system will be able to provide high bandwidth (up to 1 Gbps per user), low latency broadband services for consumers and businesses in the U.S. and globally."

A speed of 1 Gbps globally is a massive improvement from the 5.1 Mbps per user global average for internet speed as of 2015, according to Akamai. Google and Fidelity invested $1 billion into Musk's It was reported that the filing comes just two months after a SpaceX rocket exploded during a routine launchpad test. Said rocker was carrying the $200 million AMOS-6 satellite, which Facebook intended to license to beam free internet to parts of Africa.