SpaceX has plans
to launch more than 4,000 satellites, the majority of which will head into space from the Space Coast, according to an environmental impact study.
SpaceX has plans to launch more than 4,000 satellites, the majority of which will head into space from the Space Coast, according to an environmental impact study done by the Elon Musk-led company and NASA.
If it comes to fruition, the work would further solidify Cape Canaveral as the world’s busiest private launch center.
Buried in a 73-page study released in April was a reference to a project SpaceX has been pursuing that would establish a constellation of small, Internet-beaming satellites for the company.
SpaceX has been working toward launching up to 4,425 satellites, the building blocks of a project called Starlink that could end up providing nearglobal access to Internet services.
The company sent two demonstration satellites into space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in February.
SpaceX officials did not return emails seeking comment.
SpaceX received FCC approval in March to provide broadband services to consumers, marking the first time the agency had given the OK to a business seeking to do so through low-Earth orbiting satellites.
The project is expected to bring 150 construction jobs to the Space Coast, along with 70 SpaceX employees.
“The Proposed Action is not expected to cause appreciable changes in the overall traffic volume at KSC, however, some components could affect the level of service at intersections or roadways both on and off the Center,” an environmental impact study said.
In the same study, SpaceX explored the environmental impact of a project that would ramp up the space company’s presence in Florida.
The company has plans to build a 133,000-square-foot rocket refurbishment facility, a rocket garden that would display recovered rockets, a 32,000-square-foot control center and utilities yard.
The facility would be located between the Kennedy Space Center’s visitor complex and the famed Vehicle Assembly Building, just west of Kennedy Parkway along Roberts Road, according to materials supporting the study.
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SpaceX has been working toward launching up to 4,425 satellites, the building blocks of a project called Starlink that could end up providing nearglobal access to Internet services.