The company first filed with the FCC in 2017 and was seeking approval to deploy V-band Constellation of low earth orbit satellites to improve its broadband internet services.
Earlier this month, though, the decision to deploy satellites was put to a vote by the FCC and it has now been approved.
The plan was met with opposition from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in 2019. Musk claimed it posed a “clear risk of malicious interference with other systems” and added that he hoped the FCC would “at a minimum impose appropriate conditions to ensure that Boeing’s operations do not harm those of other” operators.
Despite this, SpaceX had asked the FCC to approve its plan to fly 2,824 satellites at a lower orbit and the company plans to deploy 12,000 satellites in total.
In July 2020, Amazon said it would follow suit and invest $10 billion in a network of 3,236 low-earth orbit satellites.
