Elon Musk eyes a Mars colony
Google and SpaceX will partner on bringing Internet access to underserved areas of the world using a constellation of orbiting satellites.
Last week Space Exploration Technologies, better know as SpaceX, announced a successful financing round of $1 billion. The statement noted that Internet search giant Google, which in recent years has been looking to expand into applied technologies, and Fidelity, the well-known investment group, were the two primary contributors collectively holding a 10% stake in the company.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said at an event in Seattle, that he planned to build a constellation of 4,000 to 5,000 broadband satellites. The necessary papers for such an ambitious project were filed with the International Telecommunication Union, the worldwide entity responsible for regulating orbital telecommunications.
Google has gained notoriety of late for examining various ways to expand access to the estimated 60% of people worldwide with no Internet connection. One idea Google has tested is Project Loon, a network of high-altitude balloons. A global constellation of satellites would provide a similar effect with a proven technology platform.
SpaceX has already proven its ability to deliver satellites and cargo into low Earth orbit in a cost-effective manner. The company received the $1.6 billion Commercial Orbital Transportation Services contract from NASA in 2006, and in 2014 was awarded $2.6 billion to provided manned transportation services into low Earth orbit. In addition to its successful government contracts, SpaceX has provided a cost-effective way for M2M satellite companies such as Orbcomm to expand their services.
With the Internet and telecommunications industry inextricably linked, the Google and SpaceX constellation may prove to be an easy way for companies such as Google to tap into a massive new market of almost 4 billion people. Musk seems to have even loftier aspirations stating that he hopes to use the network as a way to reliably finance the colonization of Mars.
