Eccentric billionaire Elon Musk has officially requested permission from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch a fleet of low-orbiting satellites.
The proposed project will form the worldwide free satellite Internet system.
Musk’s space company ‘SpaceX’ first announced their plans in January, but did not make the official request until last week. If all goes according to plan, there will be satellites in orbit with operational Internet within five years, according to The Independent .
Satellite Internet is not a new technology, and tech giants like Google and Samsung has already proposed a worldwide satellite Internet model. What makes SpaceX an intriguing candidate for this audacious project lies in the fact that the company is already equipped with the necessary hardware for this project, according to HNGN.
Through a series of low orbiting satellites, SpaceX is aiming to reduce the enormous latency over a space connection. Due to the lower, slower orbits of these satellites, 4000 of them are required to cover the earth.
While this project certainly does not lack ambition, it may be limited by the astronomical initial costs required to fund it, making it a daunting project.
However, Musk, who made headlines last week for wanting to nuke Mars to make it habitable, has shown in the past that he isn’t afraid to take on ambitious challenges.
image courtesy of Roger Wong/INFphoto.com