Washington: While delaying some other decisions, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced on Thursday that it had approved SpaceX's request to deploy up to 7,500 satellites.

Tens of thousands of Americans have already subscribed to SpaceX's Starlink, a rapidly expanding network of more than 3,500 satellites in low-Earth orbit. Customers pay at least $599 for a user terminal and $110 per month for service. SpaceX's plans to launch up to 4,425 first-generation satellites were approved by the FCC in 2018.

In order to beam Internet to places with little or no Internet access, SpaceX has applied for permission to operate a constellation of 29,988 satellites known as its "second-generation" or Gen2 Starlink constellation.

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The FCC stated in its approval order that "our action will enable worldwide satellite broadband service, helping to close the digital divide on a global scale" and that "Gen2 Starlink will bring next generation satellite broadband to Americans nationwide."

In addition to safeguarding "spectrum and orbital resources for future use," the FCC claimed that its decision "will protect other satellite and terrestrial operators from harmful interference and maintain a safe space environment."

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A US appeals court upheld the FCC's approval of SpaceX's plan to deploy some Starlink satellites at a lower Earth orbit than originally planned in August. This was done as part of SpaceX's push to provide space-based broadband Internet.

SpaceX appealed the FCC's decision to deny it 885.5 million dollars in rural broadband subsidies in September. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel stated in August that Starlink's technology "has real promise," but that it could not fulfil the requirements of the programme.

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She cited data showing a steady decline in speeds over the previous year and criticised the service's price as being too high for consumers.