(Credit: SpaceX)
The FCC has granted SpaceX permission to start upgrading its first-generation Starlink constellation with second-gen satellites.
The approval promises to help SpaceX improve broadband quality for Starlink, which uses orbiting satellites to beam internet to subscribers on the ground.
“SpaceX looks forward to deploying upgraded satellite equipment into its first-generation constellation to bring even more robust next-generation satellite service to millions of consumers across the country, particularly in polar regions,” the company told the FCC in a letter in April.
SpaceX began launching first-generation Starlink satellites in 2019 after securing an FCC license for up to 4,408 satellites. In February 2023, the company then applied to modify the constellation with a request to upgrade its technology using satellite hardware from SpaceX’s second-generation Starlink constellation, which has a license to launch up to 7,500 satellites.
One key change is how the second-generation satellite tech features “advanced beam-forming and digital processing technologies and enable narrower beam capabilities to provide more targeted and robust coverage,” SpaceX told the FCC at the time. But the company’s request received pushback from satellite provider Dish Network over concerns that radio emissions from the satellites risked causing interference.
In its authorization, the FCC said: "We disagree with Dish that SpaceX’s use of smaller beams will result in SpaceX violating Commission and ITU EPFD (equivalent-power flux density) limits.
“SpaceX states that it is scaling the size of its beams and the corresponding spot size to enable the most efficient use of spectrum and increase network capacity, therefore bringing more robust service to American consumers in unserved and underserved areas,” the FCC also noted.
Although SpaceX has received FCC authorization, it doesn’t plan on “rapidly” de-orbiting the existing first-generation Starlink satellites. “Rather, it seeks only to replace those satellites with upgraded hardware when those satellites reach the end of their planned operational period,” the company told the FCC last year.