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The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has given SpaceX the green light to deploy and operate 7,500 more of its Starlink Gen2 satellites.
The approval will allow SpaceX to operate a constellation of 15,000 Starlink satellites, the regulator said in a Jan. 9 statement. The FCC also is allowing the company to introduce Gen2 satellite enhancements involving, for instance, advanced waveforms, while waiving some requirements that barred overlapping beam coverage.
SpaceX also will be allowed to operate new orbital shells at altitudes ranging from 340 km (211 mi) to 485 km, boosting coverage and performance, the FCC said.
The approval comes as SpaceX is toying with going public.
SpaceX, in a recent Starlink progress report, said it has more than 9,000 active satellites in low Earth orbit. It's customer base tops 9 million users, it said. The constellation's deployment has involved more than 300 dedicated Falcon 9 launches, the space company said, with more than 120 last year alone.
The company also said this year it plans to begin deploying third-generation satellites to deliver more than 1,000 Gbps in downlink and 200 Gbps in uplink capacity.
SpaceX recently disclosed plans to adjust the orbital parameters of more than 4,000 satellites over the course of the year in a move the company says is aimed at reducing the risk of creating orbital debris. It would shift operations of around 4,400 of the broadband satellites to an orbital altitude of around 480 km, down from around 550 km.
SpaceX late last year said it suffered an on-orbit failure of a Starlink satellite that caused debris. The company said that is only one of two non-functional satellites of its more than 9,000 on orbit.
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