During a press conference on Tuesday, Gwynne Shotwell, the president of SpaceX, announced that the company has begun selling satellite lasers. These lasers, which are used for fast in-orbit communications, are now available to other satellite companies.
With fewer ground stations, SpaceX’s network can provide more global internet coverage. Hundreds of Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit communicate with each other in space at the speed of light via inter satellite laser links.
During a panel discussion at the Satellite industry conference in Washington, Shotwell stated that SpaceX, as a provider, will offer that technology to other businesses. She emphasized the company’s commitment to sharing advancements with the industry.
“We’ll roll that out… with our new Polaris Dawn mission coming up here this summer on a Dragon capsule,” Shotwell stated, making reference to the company’s next Dragon space capsule journey for a private astronaut.
Shotwell stated that the laser product is called “Plug and Plaser.” This implies that users can easily and swiftly install it on their spaceship.
Space firms have chosen to sell spaceship components in order to diversify their sources of income and raise finance for larger, more ambitious projects. SpaceX is currently developing and testing the Starship, a rocket that will surpass its mainstay Falcon 9 rocket in power. Moreover, it is expected to be considerably cheaper.
“We generally don’t sell components, so this is a little bit of a new thing for us,” Shotwell told Reuters after the panel discussion. She stated that SpaceX was in discussions with possible clients already.
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