Elon Musk’s business undertakings, like Tesla and SpaceX, keep scoring points with the federal government. SpaceX has been chosen by the Pentagon to fulfill U.S. military launches in contracts totaling $739 million without any tangible competition.
SpaceX has basically won all Space System Command military launches for the foreseeable future, with equipment tasks varying from advanced missile warning, tracking, and defense to new reconnaissance satellites for the United States Intelligence Community.
The task orders awarded [to SpaceX] in support of our mission partners, SDA and NRO, demonstrate the importance we have placed on being time efficient and cost conscious in our Phase 3 Lane 1 approach to reliably deliver space capability to the warfighter quicker and at the best value to the American taxpayer.
The Pentagon has apparently found the SpaceX capabilities to execute the four different mission launches that will begin at the end of 2026 and continue into 2028 to be unmatched for the price.
Something similar is unfolding at the FCC, which has granted SpaceX a new permit to launch up to 15,000 more satellites in total, paving the way for Starlink to become the 5G carrier rival to the likes of T-Mobile or Verizon, as well as for gigabit satellite Internet speeds.
SpaceX already had permission for 7,500 new satellites, and the FCC is now doubling that amount with the argument that its “authorization is a game-changer for enabling next-generation services.” SpaceX intends to file for an IPO as soon as 2026, as per Elon Musk, so the lowering of regulatory barriers will be a welcome sign for its future investors.
Not only does the FCC now allow 19,400 Starlink satellites in orbit, but the share of V2 satellites in the constellation has been greenlit for upgrade with “advanced form factors and cutting-edge technology.” The government is also removing older regulations against overlapping beam coverage and capacity to make way for the V3 satellite launches that will build Starlink’s gigabit speed network.
After the incident with the rogue satellite that lost its ability to maneuver, SpaceX said that it will lower the orbit of its constellation out of an abundance of caution. The FCC has now approved new orbital shells in the 340-485 km altitude range to help space the new satellites more efficiently for enhanced coverage and faster network speeds.
Finally, the federal regulators have officiated the SpaceX wish for a Starlink Mobile 5G carrier independent of the terrestrial cellular network providers both in the U.S. and abroad, “paving the way for next-generation mobile services.”
Elon Musk recently went on record to clarify that federal contracts are only a fraction of the SpaceX revenue, as most of its money comes from selling Starlink connectivity, and the government is apparently paying it forward by getting out of the way of a drastic Starlink service capacity expansion.
Get the SpaceX Starlink Mini Satellite Dish on Amazon
Daniel Zlatev – Senior Tech Writer – 2023 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2021
Wooed by tech since the industrial espionage of Apple computers and the times of pixelized Nintendos, Daniel went and opened a gaming club when personal computers and consoles were still an expensive rarity. Nowadays, fascination is not with specs and speed but rather the lifestyle that computers in our pocket, house, and car have shoehorned us in, from the infinite scroll and the privacy hazards to authenticating every bit and move of our existence.