Facebook may be planning a full assault against SpaceX, as new FCC filings reveal its plans to storm space with internet-beaming satellites.

The partially redacted filing describes a plan to launch a multi-million dollar experimental satellite, named Athena.

If approved, Athena would 'efficiently provide broadband access to unserved and underserved areas throughout the world', the filing states.

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Facebook may be planning a full assault against SpaceX, as new FCC filings reveal its plans to storm space with internet-beaming satellites. It aims to launch one low-earth orbit satellite

'Specifically, the public interest rationale in supoprt of the athena experiment is trong,' the filing explained.

'PointView will examine the suitability of LEO satellites using millimeter wave frequencies...to provide broadband acces to unserved and underserved areasacross the globe'.

The document was submitted by secretive firm PointView Tech LLC, which believed to be a subsidiary of Facebook, according to IEEE Spectrum.

There are several signs that indicate Facebook is related to PointView, including the fact that they share multiple assets like staff members.

PointView also outlines three locations, or 'earth stations,' that will send and receive data from Athena.

One of these is a business park in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles -- an area where Facebook was reported to have leased office space, which gives further credence to the belief that PointView is tied to the social media giant, IEEE noted.

Facebook has long expressed interest in how satellites can be used to help more people 'get connected'. It appears the firm is using a secretive firm PointView Tech to further those efforts

Athena would provide broadband access to unserved and underserved areas across the globe. Pictured is a map showing which areas are and aren't covered by mobile networks

PointView hopes to launch Athena in 2019 as part of a two-year testing period.

And the project could serve as a major threat to similar efforts being launched by Elon Musk's SpaceX and billionaire mogul Richard Branson's OneWeb.

Athena would use high-frequency millimeter wave radio signals, which would help drive the faster speeds necessary for 5G networks.

This would outdo SpaceX, which aims to build satellites that offer gigabit speeds.

In March, SpaceX received FCC approval to build a global broadband network using satellites, a system it has dubbed 'Starlink'.

Branson's OneWeb has proposed a similar system that would use 700 satellites.

Facebook has long had its eye on satellite systems and improving global connectivity.

The firm launched Internet.org in 2013 as an effort to bring affordable and efficient access to internet to less developed countries.

Athena would use high-frequency millimeter wave radio signals, which would help drive the faster speeds necessary for 5G networks. This would outdo SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's (pictured) 'Starlink' program, which aims to build a global space network by 2019

ELON MUSK'S SPACEX SET TO BRING BROADBAND INTERNET TO THE WORLD WITH ITS STARLINK CONSTELLATION OF SATELLITS Elon Musk's SpaceX has launched the fifth batch of its 'Starlink' space internet satellites - taking the total to 300. They form a constellation of thousands of satellites, designed to provide low-cost broadband internet service from low Earth orbit. The constellation, informally known as Starlink, and under development at SpaceX's facilities in Redmond, Washington. Its goal is to beam superfast internet into your home from space. While satellite internet has been around for a while, it has suffered from high latency and unreliable connections. Starlink is different. SpaceX says putting a 'constellation' of satellites in low earth orbit would provide high-speed, cable-like internet all over the world. The billionaire's company wants to create the global system to help it generate more cash. Musk has previously said the venture could give three billion people who currently do not have access to the internet a cheap way of getting online. It could also help fund a future city on Mars. Helping humanity reach the red planet is one of Musk's long-stated aims and was what inspired him to start SpaceX. The company recently filed plans with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch 4,425 satellites into orbit above the Earth - three times as many that are currently in operation. 'Once fully deployed, the SpaceX system will pass over virtually all parts of the Earth's surface and therefore, in principle, have the ability to provide ubiquitous global service,' the firm said. 'Every point on the Earth's surface will see, at all times, a SpaceX satellite.' The network will provide internet access to the US and the rest of the world, it added. It is expected to take more than five years and $9.8 billion (£7.1bn) of investment, although satellite internet has proved an expensive market in the past and analysts expect the final bill will be higher. Musk compared the project to 'rebuilding the internet in space', as it would reduce reliance on the existing network of undersea fibre-optic cables which criss-cross the planet. In the US, the FCC welcomed the scheme as a way to provide internet connections to more people. Advertisement

As IEEE pointed out, Facebook wrote a letter to the FCC in 2016 acknowledging 'the important role that satellite plays in improving and expanding connectivity...in remote, sparsely populated areas, where there are significant gaps in infrastructure and the economic barriers of installing that infrastructure are considerably higher, satellite services may provide the most efficient means to connect'.

Additionally, Facebook and SpaceX had previously partnered in 2016 to launch the social media giant's first satellite.

The mission ultimately failed, however, after a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the satellite catastrophically exploded on a launchpad at Cape Canaveral.

The rocket was supposed to launch the Amos-6 communications satellite, which included the capabilities for Facebook to spot-beam broadband for Facebook's Internet.org initiative.

At the time, Zuckerberg said he was 'deeply disappointed' to hear that the launch had failed.

If it proves to be true that PointView is tied to Facebook, then it seems Zuckerberg isn't trusting Musk with launching the firm's satellites this time around.

However, it will likely be a long while before the satellite is launched into space, as PointView must still receive FCC approval for the plan.