SpaceX is preparing for the Starlink Satellite Internet Air Force test

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is preparing to further test its Starlink satellite Internet connection in a demonstration for the U.S. Air Force, the company revealed in a recent petition to the Federal Communications Commission.

“SpaceX is trying to make minor modifications to its experimental authorization for additional testing activities conducted with the federal government,” the company wrote to the FCC on Thursday in a presentation.

“The tests are designed to demonstrate the ability to transmit and receive information from (1) two stationary ground locations and (2) an airborne aircraft in one location, and would be added to these (3) limited tests of a moving vehicle in the earth, ”SpaceX said.

Starlink is the company’s capital-intensive project to build an interconnected Internet network with thousands of satellites, known to the space industry as a constellation, designed to provide high-speed Internet to consumers in any part of the world. planet.

SpaceX revealed that for this test it is working with Ball Aerospace, a defense and space contractor, which will provide the antennas needed to connect the Starlink satellites to an aircraft.

SpaceX noted that Ball specifically manufactures “conformal antennas for tactical aircraft,” that is, military aircraft.

Musk’s company also noted that the Starlink test is part of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (DEUCSI) Defense Experimentation Program with the Air Force Research Laboratory, for which Ball received a contract from $ 9.7 million in August. SpaceX noted that the FCC has previously authorized Starlink experimental testing, including previous Air Force testing dating back to early 2018.

“The Commission previously granted SpaceX an experimental authorization for activities with the federal government to demonstrate SpaceX’s ability. [non-geostationary orbit] a system for transmitting and receiving information between the two fixed ground locations and ground air stations aboard moving aircraft, ”the company said in its presentation to the FCC.

SpaceX, Ball Aerospace, and the Air Force Research Laboratory did not respond to requests for comment from CNBC.

The Air Force experiment will begin with ground tests near SpaceX’s Starlink manufacturing facility in Redmond, Washington. The test will then be moved to Edwards Air Force Base in California, for a “ground-to-air scenario.”

“An antenna terminal will be integrated into an aircraft. SpaceX is designing a custom installation kit consisting of mechanical plates for low-profile antennas and a fairing to reduce wind resistance in order to limit the impact on the aircraft for this installation, ”SpaceX said in the FCC presentation.

Although SpaceX did not identify a target schedule for testing, the company said it “anticipates that testing will take four to six months to complete.”