SpaceX Seeks FCC Approval for 100,000-Satellite Gen3 Constellation

SpaceX has formally applied this week for approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch and operate a third-generation (Gen3) satellite constellation comprising 100,000 satellites, according to Jiemian News. The filing said the Gen3 system would be deployed across two thin, tightly stacked orbital shells, with nominal altitudes of 323 to 327.5 kilometers and 473 to 477.5 kilometers. SpaceX described the constellation as a communications infrastructure designed to support very low-latency, multi-gigabit symmetric uplink and downlink throughput for government, enterprise and consumer users, as well as billions of AI-driven devices.