Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, co-founder of PayPal, inventor and serial entrepreneur, is striking out again to start a revolution. This time the target isn’t the American automobile or payment systems but rather internet communications. Rather than take to the ground war of terrestrial telecom, Musk is taking to the heavens with his start up , SpaceX.
The overall mission of SpaceX is lofty to say the least. Per their website, “SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.” Whoa!
However, Musk’s current focus with the technology is to target satellite communications. SpaceX is working on launching a fleet of micro-satellites will be used to enable unrestricted global internet access at a “very low cost”. It’s been reported (but not confirmed) that he is working with former Google executive and founder of WorldVu Satellites on the project.
The idea basically ignores all of the things that we’ve come to accept – internet access is expensive and satellites are big and expensive. The collective premise of this project challenges those premises – What if we could manufacturer a satellite that was lighter (half the size)? What if we could launch 10x more satellites creating a “constellation” of satellites?
I’m hopeful about this project and find the concept fascinating. However, regardless of how much you cut the cost by making them smarted, smaller, better – there is still a cost associated w/ such a project and it’s massive. While the project promises a “low cost” they’re referring to $$ spent. I’d also be interested to see what other strategies they’ll use to monetize this satellite network. With a reported partnership w/ an ex “googler” my mind starts to imagine the possibilities . . . either way, we’ll all have to stay tuned!
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