SpaceX Looking To Operate Starlink Satellites At Lower Orbit

SpaceX is currently seeking the approval of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to allow it to operate thousands of its Starlink satellites in a lower orbit. The submitted filed the request as it prepares for the launch of the latest batch of Starlink satellites.

Starlink is SpaceX’s ambitious project to establish an artificial satellite constellation in space. The main goal of the project is to deliver high-speed space-based internet to different parts of the globe.

Currently, SpaceX has about 360 satellites in low-Earth orbit. On Wednesday (April 22), the company will launch another 60 Starlink units into space. Before the launch, the company submitted a request to the FCC regarding the orbital altitude of its satellites.

According to SpaceNews.com, SpaceX is seeking the government agency’s approval to allow the company to operate its satellites from a much lower orbit.

SpaceX originally planned to deploy its Starlink satellites from an altitude of around 1,150 kilometers from Earth. Through a request filed by the company to the FCC in April last year, the agency allowed the company to operate about 1,600 of its satellites from a lower altitude of only 550 kilometers.

On Friday (April 17), SpaceX filed another request to the FCC asking the agency to provide the same approval to an additional 2,800 satellites, bringing the total to 4,400. These satellites are the first generation Starlink units that were launched and currently being deployed by SpaceX.

Similar to its request last year, SpaceX is asking the FCC to allow it to lower the operational altitude of the 2,800 satellites to about 550 kilometers.

As explained by the company, lowering the orbit altitude of the satellites has nothing to do with their effectiveness. Instead, SpaceX wants to deploy satellites at lower altitudes in order to prevent the buildup of space debris hovering outside Earth.

According to the company, dead satellites orbiting the planet from an altitude below 650 kilometers are more susceptible to Earth’s gravitational pull. Instead of remaining in orbit, these dead satellites will be pulled back into Earth within a period of about 25 years.