They’d use Ka-band frequencies like those Iridium is using in its latest satellites, and Amazon is asking for clearance to use anti-interference technology to avoid headaches. And yes, Amazon is aware of the potential problems with space debris. The satellites would deorbit themselves in less than 10 years whether or not they were still in contact with Earth.

Amazon didn’t mention a timeline for putting the satellites into orbit. However, the FCC filing shows that it has been thinking about this plan for a while. Whether or not it’s timely is another story. SpaceX is already launching its first broadband satellites, and plans roughly three times as many. Although it will take years for satellite constellations like these to roll out, there’s a concern that Amazon might already be at a disadvantage.

SpaceX also intends to deorbit two of the functioning satellites in order to test the process.

It’s still early days for Starlink, but it suggests that you won’t see a host of dead satellites clogging up Earth’s orbit. The concern is more one of scale. Eventually, SpaceX hopes to put a constellation of nearly 12,000 internet satellites into orbit. There’s no guarantee that SpaceX will enjoy similar or better success rates for all of them. A comparable failure rate would still affect hundreds of satellites over time, increasing the risk of persistent space debris.

Thankfully, the satellites won’t last forever. SpaceX already expects the satellites to last five years before they plunge into the atmosphere. It’s just a question of how many of those machines make a controlled plunge rather than failing in unpredictable ways.

While the US and Russia worked with other countries on the Sea Launch platform (which wound down in 2014), China is the only nation to have launched a rocket from sea using a platform and tech it fully owns, according to TechCrunch. The launch, however, took place from a private cargo ship. SpaceX, meanwhile, has also launched and landed rockets at sea.

Companies like OneWeb and Kepler Communications had objected to SpaceX’s request over concerns that Starlink would interfere with their own satellites, but the FCC didn’t believe the satellites would create “significant” interference. Regulators also didn’t find a significant risk of collisions in the new orbit, noting that each of the satellites would have thrusters to make evasive maneuvers.

For SpaceX, the approval might come in the nick of time. In addition to competitors like OneWeb, the company is facing impending rivalries like Amazon’s 3,236 planned internet satellites. If SpaceX is going to meet the terms of the FCC’s approval and launch more than half of its planned 11,000-plus Starlink satellites within six years, it will likely want to start as soon as possible.