Follow The solution may be to start an entirely different space business: satellites to provide high-speed internet everywhere. The company’s next launch, scheduled for late Wednesday, will put into space the first pieces for a constellation called Starlink. “This would provide connectivity to people who either don't have any connectivity today or where it's extremely expensive and unreliable,” Musk said during a news conference a few hours before launch. — What is the rocket carrying? SpaceX — which usually ferries cargo to orbit for NASA or private companies — is its own customer this time. And the Falcon 9 rocket is carrying not just one satellite but 60 identical ones. Recommended For You Measles, Mostly Eliminated as Threat, Is Now an Emergency in the Northwest SEATTLE — Measles, declared eliminated as a major public health threat in the United States almost 20 years ago, has re-emerged this winter in the Pacific Northwest and other states where parents have relatively broad leeway over whether to vaccinate their children. Musk posted pictures of the Starlink satellites on Twitter. ADVERTISEMENT The Starlink satellites will eventually form a constellation of satellites that are to offer internet to almost anywhere on Earth. Last year, SpaceX launched two prototype satellites, called Tintin A and Tintin B. The payload on this launch, at more than 30,000 pounds, is the heaviest ever sent aloft by SpaceX. Musk said that these satellites would be able to relay information by bouncing the data off a ground station. However, they lack a component planned for future versions: lasers that would allow the satellites to relay information to each other. Each of the flat-panel satellites weighs about 500 pounds, powered by a single solar array. They are to be deployed about one hour after launch, steadily moving outward from a slowly spinning core. “It will almost seem like spreading a deck of cards on a table,” Musk said. The satellites are to be switched on two to three hours after deployment. ADVERTISEMENT Musk sounded a note of caution to tamp down expectations. “There is a lot of new technology here,” he said. “It’s possible that some of these satellites may not work. In fact, it’s possible, a small possibility, that all of the satellites may not work.” — Isn’t there already internet service from space? A number of companies do satellite internet using geostationary communications satellites 22,200 miles above the surface. At that altitude, the time for the satellite to complete an orbit is exactly one day and thus it remains over the exact same spot on Earth as the planet rotates at the same rate. That makes it straightforward for one satellite to provide internet for a swath of the surface below, but current services have drawbacks. They are not available everywhere and they are usually fairly expensive. Because the data signals have to travel up 22,200 miles and then back down, the performance can be laggy. That does not matter if you are watching a movie on Netflix, but it becomes excruciating when playing an online game that relies on fast reflexes. ADVERTISEMENT