Boeing gets green light for satellite internet constellation
The Federal Communications Commission has authorized a satellite internet project from Boeing first proposed in 2017. Boeing can now move forward with building, launching, and operating its own broadband internet network from space, joining its main aerospace competitor SpaceX.
Boeing’s plan involves placing 132 satellites into low Earth orbit at an altitude of 1,056 kilometers (about 656 miles). Another 15 will be launched to “non geostationary orbit” at an altitude between 27,355 and 44,221 km (16,998 to 27,478 miles). The company says it wants to use the satellites to offer “broadband internet and communications services to residential consumers, government and business users in the United States, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin...