The Falcon 9 launch in November 2019 carried 60 Starlink satellites.
SpaceX
SpaceX has been awarded almost $900 million from the Federal Communications Commission to help bring internet to rural areas. The money was provided through the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to provide most rural areas with broadband speeds of at least 100/20 megabits per second — and over 85% of rural areas with gigabit speeds. A total of 180 companies won part of the $9.2 billion up for grabs in phase one of the program.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX was given $885,509,638.40 during the auction. Under the program, SpaceX has been assigned 642,925 locations across 35 states.
Read more: How SpaceX Starlink broadband will envelop Earth and transform the sky
The funding will be distributed over the next 10 years in equal monthly payments.
“I’m thrilled with the incredible success of this auction, which brings welcome news to millions of unconnected rural Americans who for too long have been on the wrong side of the digital divide,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “They now stand to gain access to high-speed, high-quality broadband service.”
SpaceX aims to improve internet speeds with a satellite service it calls Starlink. It’s sending thousands of small satellites into orbit, which form constellations of flying routers that beam connectivity back to Earth.
SpaceX didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
