This article is more than 5 years old. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off SpaceX Astranis, the San Francisco-based satellite internet startup backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator and other Silicon Valley venture capitalists, announced Monday that SpaceX will launch the company’s first commercial satellite in the fourth quarter of 2020. The satellite will exclusively service the company’s contract with Alaska-based Pacific Dataport, and begin providing that service in 2021. “It’s a major milestone for the company,” says Astranis CEO and cofounder John Gedmark. "We’re one step closer to having our first commercial satellite up and solving this problem of internet connectivity.” Astranis is one of many satellite internet startups that have emerged over the past few years, but differentiates from the competition in its approach to satellite internet coverage. SpaceX and OneWeb, among others, are developing constellations of hundreds of small, inexpensive satellites for low Earth orbit, in contrast to traditional telecommunications satellites, which can cost hundreds of millions of dollars and are placed in geosynchronous orbit. Astranis splits the difference - taking advantage of advances in technology to build a satellite that’s smaller and hundreds of millions of dollars less expensive - while putting those satellites in geosynchronous orbit to help provide connectivity where it’s currently lacking. This may prove to be a good market opportunity for both Astranis and regional telecommunications companies, notes a February report from analyst firm Quilty Analytics: “The emergence of ‘micro GEO’ platforms finally gives regional service providers like Pacific Dataport the opportunity to ‘take matters into their own hands’ by procuring highly-tailored capacity for their customers.” MORE FOR YOU