SpaceX receives FCC green-light to launch 7,500 internet satellites

The company has now received permission to launch nearly 12,000 satellites to power its global internet service.

SpaceX has received approval from the Federal Communications Commission to launch a constellation of more than 7,500 satellites.

The company has already received permission to launch more than 4,400 satellites. The network of nearly 12,000 orbiting transceivers will be used to power a global wireless internet service.

The FCC has also promised to streamline its satellite licensing rules, creating a single license for space stations and related earth stations to eliminate redundancies in the two separate licensing processes. 

"Taken together, these changes are intended to ensure that the United States remains the most desirable country in the world for licensing and operating satellites," said FCC chairman Ajit Pai.

Tesla's proposed constellation represents a massive increase in total satellites orbiting the Earth. A Union of Concerned Scientists analysis suggests there are only 1,886 operational satellites in orbit, though there is a much higher number of non-operational objects.

The FCC has also launched a review of rules designed to mitigate the accumulation of orbital debris, whether non-operational satellites or objects used to launch satellites. The proposal aims to consider the changes in satellite technologies, primarily the proliferation of low-cost small satellites and large constellations with thousands of individual satellites.

Altogether, the various FCC filings suggest SpaceX is not facing any overt resistance to its launch plans but may still have more work to convince regulators that its massive constellation will not pose a threat to other satellite operations.