Starlink and Amazon Kuiper will have to squeeze: Boeing gets approval to deploy its own satellite Internet network
The US Federal Communications Commission has approved the activation of Boeing Aircraft Company's satellite internet project, first proposed in 2017. Boeing can now move forward with building, launching and operating its own satellite broadband internet network, joining rival Elon Musk's now-famous Starlink and Amazon's similar Kuiper project .
Boeing's plan is to launch 132 satellites into low Earth orbit at an altitude of about 1,056 kilometers. Another 15 will be launched into a so-called "non-geostationary orbit" between 27,355 and 44,221 kilometers from our planet. The company says it wants to use the satellites to provide "broadband Internet and communications services to residential, government and business users in the US, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands" until the network is built worldwide.
After receiving approval from the Federal Circuit, Boeing has six years to launch half of the satellite network and nine years to deploy the entire network. The company asked for a relaxation of those requirements - it wanted to commit to launching only five satellites in the first six years and asked for a 12-year delay to launch the entire "satellite constellation" - but the commission rejected that request, according to a ruling released Wednesday.
All 147 Boeing satellites will broadcast in the V-band, a higher-frequency portion of the wireless spectrum than the Ka and Ku bands used by SpaceX's Starlink network or Amazon's Project Kuiper satellites, which have yet to launch. Using the V-band can provide higher data rates, but comes with a greater risk of interference because the higher frequencies have difficulty penetrating solid objects.
