Elon Musk’s SpaceX to Launch 1Gb/s Global Internet

Elon Musk is moving a step closer to establishing a global internet service with his plan to launch a series of satellites around the world via his private astronautics outfit, SpaceX. Musk’s company filed a proposal with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch and operate a network of over 4,000 satellites to provide 1Gb/s internet worldwide, which will cost somewhere in the region of £10 billion to initiate.

“Space Exploration Holdings, LLC [SpaceX] seeks operating authority (i.e., approval for orbital deployment and a station license) for a non-geostationary orbit satellite system in the Fixed-Satellite Service using the Ku and Ka frequency bands,” the FCC listing reads.

“The system is designed to provide a wide range of broadband and communications services for residential, commercial, institutional, government and professional users worldwide,” the listing explains. “With deployment of the first 800 satellites, SpaceX will be able to provide widespread U.S. and international coverage for broadband services.”

“Once fully deployed, the SpaceX System will pass over virtually all parts of the Earth’s surface and therefore, in principle, have the ability to provide ubiquitous global service,” the proposal adds.

Around 43% of the Earth’s 7.2 billion human population are currently connected to the internet, with average speeds of 5.6Mb/s, leaving approximately 3.5 billion people not online.