Elon Musk has confirmed that SpaceX is working on micro-satellites. Following a story in The Wall Street Journal, he tweeted this morning that SpaceX is developing “advanced micro-satellites operating in large formations” with an official announcement due in two to three months.
SpaceX is still in the early stages of developing advanced micro-satellites operating in large formations. Announcement in 2 to 3 months.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 11, 2014
In a reply to another Twitter user, Musk said the micro-satellites will be used to enable unfettered and very low cost internet access. He also said the WSJ story got a number of details wrong and “shouldn’t have been written on rumor and hearsay.”
@RolfeWinkler No, WSJ was wrong on several important points. The article shouldn’t have been written on rumor and hearsay.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 11, 2014
Musk didn’t indicate the specific errors in the WSJ report. It said SpaceX is planning a launch of 700 satellites, each weighing less than 250 pounds. A fleet that size would be 10x bigger than the largest current deployment managed by Iridium Communications.
Image credit: SpaceX
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