Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Wednesday proposed that his agency approve a SpaceX application to provide broadband services in the U.S. and globally using satellite technologies. The aerospace company, owned by Tesla Inc. TSLA, +4.42% Chief Executive and founder Elon Musk, is planning to launch a rocket over the weekend to test plans to offer satellite-based broadband internet. "To bridge America's digital divide, we'll have to use innovative technologies," Chairman Pai said in a statement. "SpaceX's application -- along with those of other satellite companies seeking licenses or access to the U.S. market for non-geostationary satellite orbit systems -- involves one such innovation." He went on to say that the technology could help reach rural Americans and those in hard-to-reach places, and if the rest of the commission votes to approve the application, it would be the first approval given to an American-based company providing broadband services using new generation of orbit satellite technologies.