(Bloomberg) — Amazon.com’s plan for a fleet of 3,236 communications satellites won the backing of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission chairman, who said he had asked fellow commissioners to approve the venture.
“Satellite constellations like this aim to provide high-speed broadband service to consumers in the U.S. and around the world,” Ajit Pai said in a tweet on Friday. Pai added that he had called for conditions on the proposed service by Amazon subsidiary Kuiper Systems without specifying them.
Pai’s request is likely to result in approval in closed-door voting at the agency, where he leads a Republican majority.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos wants to launch the small satellites in low orbits to provide internet coverage. Separately, Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, has launched more than 480 of a planned 12,000 satellites; in October 2019, the company founded by Elon Musk sought permission for 30,000 more.
The FCC coordinates coordinates trajectories and radio-frequency use.
Amazon last year called Kuiper “a long-term project that envisions serving tens of millions of people who lack basic access to broadband internet.”
Amazon didn’t immediately reply to an email sent to an inbox for press queries.
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