SpaceX has been granted permission to fly its low-earth-orbit Starlink satellites at a reduced altitude, in part to improve the performance of the company’s satellite-based broadband service.
The Federal Communications Commission granted the changes to SpaceX’s satellite broadband operations over protests from companies including Viasat, Dish Network and other satellite operators, including Amazon’s Kuiper subsidiary.
In 2019, SpaceX had been granted permission to operate 1,584 of the satellites in its planned constellation at an altitude of 550 km instead of the previous 1,150 km. Then in early 2020, the company asked that in addition to the satellites at 550 km, it be allowed to operate the same number of satellites at 540 km and additional satellites at other, lower altitudes of 560 km and 570 km.
