In the future, will the earth be surrounded by 90,000 satellites? SpaceX and OneWeb have recently submitted applications for launching tens of thousands of satellites to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
On May 27th local time, British communications company OneWeb announced that it had submitted a request for amendment to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to increase the number of satellites in its constellation Up to nearly 48,000. OneWeb, which currently has 74 satellites in orbit, claims that this larger satellite constellation will provide better flexibility to meet global interconnection needs.
In addition to OneWeb, Musk ’s SpaceX application filed with the FCC on May 26 showed that SpaceX applied for the deployment of 30,000 satellites. In addition to the 12,000 “Star Chain” satellites previously approved by the FCC, SpaceX hopes to eventually be able to operate 42,000 satellites. At present, SpaceX has launched 422 satellites.
The modification application submitted by OneWeb shows that OneWeb will seek FCC approval for its two stages of satellite Internet development. The first phase reduced OneWeb’s originally approved 720 satellites to 716, and adjusted the orbital parameters of its constellation; the second phase increased the number of authorized satellites from 716 to 47844, and related its orbital structure change.
However, this company that just applied to increase the number of satellites filed for bankruptcy protection two months ago. On March 27, local time, OneWeb issued a statement saying that OneWeb and certain of its holding subsidiaries voluntarily filed an application for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Law with the US Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York.
At the time, OneWeb stated that this situation was the economic consequence of the new coronary pneumonia. The statement said that since the beginning of the year, OneWeb has been conducting investment negotiations to raise all the funds needed to complete the constellation deployment and commercial launch of the company. Although the company is close to obtaining financing, due to the financial impact of the spread of new coronary pneumonia and market turmoil, this process has not made progress. OneWeb was “forced to lay off employees” and entered bankruptcy protection procedures.
However, OneWeb said in its application to the FCC, “OneWeb has obtained financing from assets held by the debtor and is expected to withdraw from bankruptcy protection procedures soon to enable OneWeb Maximize the value of strategic assets and ensure a practical and feasible way forward for its stakeholders and customers. “