(BI) – SpaceX, the rocket company founded by Elon Musk, is trying to launch an internet revolution. SpaceX plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Crammed inside the nosecone will be 60 tabletop-size satellites designed to test an internet network called Starlink. The launch was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but was delayed twice, and is now set to take place in “about a week,” SpaceX said. The delay, it said, is to allow time for a software update and to “triple-check everything.” Starlink,
once complete, would consist of nearly 12,000 satellites — more than six times the number of all operational spacecraft now in orbit. The goal is to finish the project in 2027, thereby blanketing the Earth with high-speed, low-latency, and affordable internet access. Even partial deployment of Starlink would benefit the financial sector and bring pervasive broadband internet to rural and remote areas. Completing the project may cost $10 billion or more, according to Gwynne Shotwell, the president and chief operating officer of SpaceX. READ MORE
