The business will launch first in the United States and Canada, potentially as soon as next year. The company wants to have global coverage by the end of 2020, though it will need to hash out deals with foreign governments for permission to operate abroad. Other tech companies have tried and failed to build satellite internet constellations to provide inexpensive broadband services. SpaceX has said one reason it will be successful is its ability to launch cheaply on its own rockets. The Falcon 9 was a game-changer for the space industry because of its $60 million price tag, which is roughly one-third the price of similarly sized rockets. Part of the reason the Falcon 9 is so cheap, according to SpaceX, is because the company has the ability to reuse parts of the hardware. SpaceX routinely recycles the first-stage booster, the bottom portion of the rocket that gives the initial thrust at launch. The booster used on Monday was previously used on three missions, marking the first time SpaceX has used the same booster on four trips to space. It was also the first mission on which the Falcon 9 flew with a used fairing, which is the cone-shaped portion at the top of the rocket that protects satellites during launch. SpaceX is not alone in its mission to beam internet from space: Similar constellations have been proposed by Amazon and Softbank-backed OneWeb. These companies have harped on the economic possibilities of delivering cheap, high-speed internet across the globe. But the idea of deploying thousands of new devices into Earth’s orbit is controversial. Astronomers have raised concerns about how it will impact their ability to observe the night sky. And there are concerns about safety — particularly how to ensure that newly deployed satellites don’t collide and add to the space debris issue. Throughout history, only about 8,000 satellites have ever been sent to space, and there are about 2,000 currently active satellites. With current plans for satellite constellations, that number could grow by more than 20,000 in just a decade. SpaceX and OneWeb have discussed plans for ensuring their devices won’t add to the debris issue. For instance, SpaceX’s satellites have autonomous maneuvering abilities, meaning they can automatically dodge potential collisions with other satellites or debris. Related