SpaceX details plans for a constellation of broadband satellites

SpaceX has asked the Federal Communications Commission to approve a constellation of more than 4,000 satellites that would provide widespread broadband and communications coverage.

In the proposal filed Tuesday, SpaceX said it would eventually launch 4,425 satellites into low-earth orbit. The company will also launch some spare satellites to act as backup in case of a failure.

Hawthorne-based SpaceX said it will first provide commercial broadband service in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands by deploying 800 satellites. The company didn’t say when the launches, or the service, would start.

Although SpaceX didn’t address the project’s cost, last year Chief Executive Elon Musk estimated that the satellite network could cost $10 billion to $15 billion.

Eventually, the company said its satellites will cover “virtually all parts of the Earth’s surface and therefore, in principle, have the ability to provide ubiquitous global service.�

Musk first announced his plans to create a network of thousands of satellites last year. The Hawthorne-based company has opened an office in Redmond, Wash., near Seattle, to focus on developing the satellites, which will be about 13 feet long and about 6 feet wide, with 19-foot-long solar arrays.

Some existing satellites can be as big as a school bus.

SpaceX’s satellites are designed to last five to seven years. About a year after its mission is over, the satellites will reenter Earth’s orbit, power down and burn up in the atmosphere, SpaceX said.

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