Musk moves ahead with plan to ‘rebuild Internet in space’
Los Angeles-based SpaceX aims to start testing scheme involving web of satellites
Elon Musk’s space company has asked the U.S. federal government for permission to begin testing an ambitious project to beam Internet service from space, a significant step forward for an initiative that could create another major telecom competitor.
The plan calls for launching a constellation of 4,000 small, cheap satellites that will beam high-speed Internet signals to all parts of the globe, including its most remote regions. Musk has said the effort “would be like rebuilding the Internet in space.”
If successful, the attempt could transform Los Angeles-based SpaceX from a pure rocket company into a massive high-speed Internet provider that would take on major companies in the developed world, but also make first-time customers out of the billions of people who are currently not online.
The idea of saturating Earth with Internet signals from space has long been the dream of prominent business tycoons, including Bill Gates in the 1990s. But many of these ventures have run into obstacles that Musk is working to avoid. Musk has his own rocket and he has said his swarm of satellites will be more efficient and inexpensive than relying on a handful of big devices that are difficult to replace.
Dish Network and DirecTV, for instance, have for years relied on a few older satellites that are cast much farther into space and can only serve specific regions such as the United States. SpaceX’s web of satellites would wrap around Earth in low orbit, handing off Internet signals to each other to make connections more reliable and to reach more areas.
The filing, made with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) late last month, is the first public glimpse into how Musk will move ahead with the project.
Musk isn’t the only billionaire en- trepreneur who is pursuing such an idea. Virgin’s Richard Branson has partnered with a company with similar ambitions. Both ventures would have to succeed where many have failed.
Facebook recently abandoned its plan to build a $500-million (U.S.) satellite that would provide Internet service around the globe, according to tech site the Information.
And a previous effort by a firm called LightSquared to use satellites to provide wireless service fell apart three years ago, despite initial backing from the FCC. Military officials complained at the time that the technology interfered with the radar used by planes — a problem that shouldn’t hinder Musk’s effort, industry officials said.
Musk’s FCC filing proposes tests starting next year. If all goes well, the service could be up and running in about five years.
The satellites would be deployed from one of SpaceX’s rockets, the Falcon 9. Once in orbit, the satellites would connect to ground stations at three West Coast facilities. The pur- pose of the tests is to see if the antenna technology used on the satellites will be able to deliver high-speed Internet to the ground without hiccups.
Despite a history of failed satellite ventures, wealthy individuals and companies are pouring fresh funds into exploring satellite-based communications. Google and Fidelity recently invested $1 billion into SpaceX, in part to support the satellite broadband Internet project.
Some analysts say that, while the technology appears promising, the basic logistics are difficult to overcome.
In the mid-1990s, Teledesic, a company funded by Bill Gates, wireless executive Craig McCaw and a Saudi prince, tried to employ a similar plan to use low-Earth orbiting satellites to provide Internet access. But costs ballooned to more than $9 billion, and the venture ultimately collapsed.
The new space entrepreneurs are proposing technology that is smaller, built in-house and therefore cheaper to operate, industry officials say.
“Some people might say the idea of satellite broadband has come and gone. But the cost structure of the business is so much better than when Bill Gates tried it,” said Paul Gallant, analyst at Guggenheim Partners, an investment firm.
Musk isn’t the only billionaire entrepreneur who is pursuing the idea. His venture would have to succeed where others failed