SpaceX submitted a request to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deploy a constellation of 100,000 Starlink Gen3 satellites in low Earth orbit.
The proposal would significantly expand the Starlink network, which currently operates around 10,800 satellites and already has authorization to incorporate an additional 4,000.
The proposal would significantly expand the Starlink network
What the new Starlink Gen3 satellites will be like
According to the documentation submitted by SpaceX, each Gen3 satellite will weigh between 2,000 and 2,500 kilograms and, with the solar panels deployed, will occupy an area of between 300 and 400 square meters.
The new models will be considerably larger than the current Starlink V2 Mini, which weigh around 800 kilograms and have solar panels of approximately 116 square meters.
Starship would be the chosen rocket for launches
Currently, SpaceX uses the Falcon 9 rocket to launch the Starlink V2 Mini satellites, in missions that typically transport 29 units.
Starship would be the chosen rocket for the launches
Due to the larger size of the Starlink Gen3, the company expects future launches to be carried out using Starship, the high-capacity vehicle it is developing for various space missions.
The project is part of a Starlink expansion
The new constellation would represent an expansion of the Starlink infrastructure, the satellite internet service of SpaceX.
The project is part of a Starlink expansion
Additionally, the company is also working on Starmind, a project that envisions a constellation of up to one million satellites intended to function as orbital data centers for artificial intelligence applications.
Other companies are also developing satellite constellations
In addition to SpaceX, other companies like Amazon and Blue Origin are advancing projects to deploy large constellations of satellites in low Earth orbit.
