America Worried About Elon Musk Dominating Satellites
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The United States (US) government is worried about the dominance of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite constellation in Earth’s orbit. Elon Musk’s company has just launched its 7,000th satellite into space and controls almost 2/3 of the current active satellites.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Head Jessica Rosenworcel said her party wanted to see more competition for Starlink.
“Starlink has almost 2/3 of the satellites in space today that have very high internet traffic,” Rosenworcel said, quoted from Reuters, Thursday (12/9/2024).
“Our economy will not benefit from a monopoly. So, we invite more space players, more companies that can develop constellations and innovation in space,” he added.
Earlier this month, Musk said the Starlink high-speed internet system would cover the entire planet in the near future.
“Starlink internet will likely provide over 90% of space-based internet traffic next year,” Musk tweeted on his personal X account.
Rosenworcel said all communications markets that have strong competition will benefit. For example, in terms of cheaper prices and more solution-oriented innovation.
He added that the FCC will try to help new players understand the licensing process to enter the space satellite business.
“Outreach is really part of our ongoing efforts here, because we know there will be a lot of new players in the space economy,” he said.
Quoted from The Independent, the satellite internet constellation built and operated by SpaceX through Starlink has grown by an average of three satellites per day since it was first launched in 2019.
The latest data from non-profit satellite tracker CelesTrak shows that SpaceX has 6,370 active Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). Hundreds more are monitored as inactive or not in orbit.
Musk’s Starlink satellites have tripled in just 3 years. Currently, its contribution is 62% of all satellites operating in space or 10 times more than Starlink’s main competitor, OneWeb from the UK.
SpaceX plans to launch 42,000 satellites to complete the Starlink constellation. The satellite is claimed to be able to provide high-speed internet and mobile connectivity in various parts of the world.
Starlink is currently operating in 102 countries including Indonesia. It has more than 3 million users.
Starlink plans to launch its services to more countries. Only a few are not on the list, namely Afghanistan, China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Syria.
People in these countries can still access Starlink internet with illegally imported equipment. One of them is a group of Iranian activists who reportedly smuggled dozens of Starlink devices into their country in 2022.
SOURCE : CNBC INDONESIA
