The race to space has been one of the biggest stories in recent weeks with Sir Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos battling it out to push the envelope of space exploration. But what about things that huge personalities like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are doing to enhance and improve high-speed broadband Internet?
We are witnessing space travel as it takes a significant step toward becoming a reality for human space exploration. In addition to launching humans into space and exploring human settlement possibilities, Jeff Bezos’ aspirations have been to have his own satellite broadband service. Named Project Kuiper, Bezos’ not-so-public $10 billion satellite Internet program will send its first satellites into space on rockets owned by United Launch Alliance, a joint Boeing-Lockheed Martin venture. Project Kuiper received approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to place 3,236 satellites in the low Earth orbit (LEO).
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has their plans for deploying satellites in earth’s orbit with its Starlink Internet service. They have also set up a ground station on a tiny self-governing island in the Irish Sea to help it beam internet from satellites in LEO to homes and offices. It’s reported that SpaceX already has about 1,000 satellites in orbit, with 12,000 total planned within their strategy. OneWeb recently had their ninth launch, which means they now have 648 satellites in orbit, including 50 in-orbit spares. OneWeb Satellites is a joint venture between OneWeb and Airbus, the world’s second largest space company to manufacture low-cost, ultra-high performing satellites at high volumes. It’s clearly an exciting time to be following these latest events surrounding space exploration. What’s next?
