November 29: The race to provide internet from space

In November, a flurry of space companies filed requests with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for new or expanded broadband networks.

Source: CNBC
Published: November 2021

The race to provide internet from space

A flurry of space companies filed requests in November with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for new or expanded broadband networks. The companies are asking the FCC for access to what is known as V-band spectrum, a range of frequency that will be used to provide broadband internet service from space.

Requests came from:

Company: Amazon (Project Kuiper)
Headquarters: Redmond, Washington
Satellites requested: 7,774

Company: Astra
Headquarters: Alameda, California
Satellites requested: 13,620

Company: Boeing
Headquarters: Seattle, Washington
Satellites requested: 5,789

Company: Inmarsat
Headquarters: London, England
Satellites requested: 198

Company: Intelsat
Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
Satellites requested: 216

Company: Hughes
Headquarters: Germantown, Maryland
Satellites requested: 1,440

Company: OneWeb
Headquarters: London, England
Satellites requested: 6,372

Company: SpinLaunch
Headquarters: Long Beach, California
Satellites requested: 1,190

Company: Telesat
Headquarters: Ottawa, Canada
Satellites requested: 1,373

*Satellites requested include both new or expanded constellation.

Bonus: Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has deployed 1,740 of its Starlink broadband satellites already, was not among the recent batch of applicants. The FCC previously authorized SpaceX to launch about 7,500 V-band Starlink satellites, and the company is working on plans for nearly 30,000 satellites in its “Gen2” system.