SpaceX has received permission to operate 2 814 Starlink satellites in a lower orbit than originally planes.
The FCC has found that the lower orbits won’t create significant interference problems for other operations, but will allow them to include more safely features, such as the ability to quickly discard any dead or broken satellites.
There are some condition to the FCC approval, and SpaceX will need to co-ordinate with other operators to make sure its satellites’ signals satellites don’t interfere with others.
In addition, the company will also be required to make reports two reports a year to the FCC on Starlink failures, including conjunction events, maneuvres, or close calls with other satellites.
The Starlink network already has more than 1 300 satellites in orbit, with plans to launch thousands more to provide global broadband internet to rural parts of the world. The next 2 814 satellites can be lowered from a planned altitude of 1 150km to 550km.