Tech

SpaceX Gets Federal Approval To Launch Satellite Internet Service

It plans to launch over 4,400 of them within the next nine years.

SpaceX Gets Federal Approval To Launch Satellite Internet Service
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Elon Musk's plan to launch a global satellite-based internet service took a major step forward Thursday.

The Federal Communications Commission approved SpaceX's plan to launch over 4,400 satellites into low-Earth orbit within the next nine years.

Those satellites will, at least in theory, bring high-speed internet to areas that lack broadband access. 

They also might have the additional benefit of funding SpaceX's ambitious plan to send people to Mars; a Wall Street Journal report last year shows the company expects to make roughly $30 billion from the service by 2025.