SpaceX’s Starlink home internet service has brought high-speed internet to Americans and people around the world who often had no options for high-speed internet before. Now though, as demand goes up, speeds have been going down. Now SpaceX has a plan to increase speeds and offer more robust coverage for Americans. This all comes from an FCC filing spotted by Ryan Thompson.
SpaceX is asking the FCC for permission to upgrade its first-generation satellites with new technology that should improve internet speeds for its customers.
Starlink already has permission to launch 7,500 second-gen satellites but is hoping to also use some of this upgraded technology for the remaining first gen-satellites it has yet to launch of the 4408 that the FCC approved.
“To be clear, while SpaceX intends to populate its Gen1 constellation with upgraded satellites, it does not intend to more rapidly de-orbit its existing satellites,” SpaceX wrote. “Rather, it seeks only to replace those satellites with upgraded hardware when those satellites reach the end of their planned operational period.”
The short version here is that SpaceX hopes to use new technology in the remaining generation-one satellites that SpaceX has yet to launch.
Recently SpaceX has faced complaints about internet speeds, but the hope is with thousands of satellites still to be launched, they will be able to handle the increased demand.