Starlink Grows

SpaceX has grown their Starlink network to the point that they are now requesting the US Federal Communications Commission to give them a blanket licence to build the ground stations they need to help deploy their broadband network to even more users.

Starlink connects users with a massive constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit. But the satellites can’t handle all of that bandwidth alone, and so they use Earth-bound “gateway” stations to help communication with the orbiting parts of the network.

According to the new filing, a gateway station can have up to 40 identical 1 point 85 metre antennas. This array lets a station communicate with up to 8 Gen1, and up to 32 Gen2 satellites - at the same time. This is due to the new V2 satellites having more advanced antennas that provide roughly 4 times more capacity than the older V1 and 1.5 satellites.

With a blanket licence to build these gateway stations, SpaceX wouldn’t need to ask permission from the FCC every time they needed to expand their ground-bound infrastructure to match the pace of their satellite network.

And they’re going to need it.

In December of 2022, the FCC granted SpaceX permission to launch up to 7,500 new Gen2 satellites - but that was only a small amount of what SpaceX had asked for. The original filing requested permission to launch almost 30,000 new satellites into Low Earth Orbit.

But this past year has shown an FCC that is much more conscious about the growing problem of space debris, and they decided to defer their full decision until SpaceX proves the Gen2 Starlinks weren’t going to just cause more problems.

But aside from a few de-orbits, the Gen2 “mini” satellites that SpaceX has launched so far have worked well. And the company has continued to grow their network with “Ka band” technology - a communications frequency that Starlink satellites began using in 2019 with their Gen1 units which allows for potentially greater bandwidth.

Currently, there are about 2,700 Starlink satellites in orbit - a mix of all generations of the hardware, all operating together - so as more satellites are launched, SpaceX is going to need more ground stations to help direct all that traffic.

The company is undoubtedly hoping for a quick approval here - and they might just get one. The FCC might be cautious with extra space traffic right now, but it’s much harder to cause dangerous debris with a stationary ground facility.