Shotwell Downplays SpaceX Commitment To Broadband Constellation

摘要

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell on Oct. 27 downplayed the company's 4,000-satellite broadband Internet constellation, saying the project remained "very speculative" pending a deeper assessment of its business case. Speaking in Hong Kong at the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA) convention, Shotwell said SpaceX's focus remains on the launch side of its business. Shotwell said SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, which failed in June during a cargo mission to the International Space Station, would return to flight in December. The Hawthorne, California, company had already announced that it would launch 11 small Orbcomm machine-to-machine messaging satellites into low Earth orbit on the next flight, which will also be the first use of the upgraded Falcon 9. Once the Orbcomm satellites have been released, the flight will test reignition of the upgraded Falcon 9's second-stage engine, a maneuver that is needed to launch heavier telecommunications satellites into geostationary transfer orbit.