What: SpaceX wants to launch its Starship spacecraft on the Moon before 2022, with a manned mission “soon thereafter.”
Why: The plans are part of the company’s program to build a network of as many as 30,000 satellites, providing high-speed internet from Orbit, CCO and President Gwynne Shotwell recently told a conference, as quoted by CNBC.
How: SpaceX has raised over $1.3 billion so far this year for its Starship and Starlink programs. Starship is the concept of a massive reusable rocket capable of carrying up to 100 people and cargo to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
Starlink is the company’s program of setting up a massive network of satellites with global internet connectivity from space. In Shotwell’s words, the company’s plan is to get to a point where they’re launching 60 satellites “every other week to fill out the constellation.”
According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Starlink could turn into a business with $30 to $50 billion in annual revenue.
It launched the first batch of 60 satellites in May.
Starlink Mission
