Elon Musk, CEO of the commercial space flight corporation SpaceX (and the provider of revolutionary electric vehicles Tesla Motors) has reportedly expressed his hopes to start developing cheap space satellites that could provide the world’s population with global internet access, LoadTheGame.com reports. According to a report cited by LTG, Musk is currently developing a partnership with Greg Wyler, founder of WorldVu Satellites, with the intention to launch about 700 small, light and inexpensive satellites for this reason. The satellites should weight up to 250 pounds each, about half of a commercial satellite.
Development of such a project, that would handle the world’s largest fleet of satellites, would cost approximately $1 billion, or even more. Besides the costs and challenges of the development itself, such an endeavor would have to face regulatory hurdles as well. Sources familiar to the matter have reported that Musk and Wyler would intend to build a factory to manufacture these satellites, and that they have contacted the authorities of Colorado and Florida about the possible location of the facility.
This would not be the first similar startup founded by Greg Wyler. His previous attempt, called O3b Networks, has launched eight satellites on either sides of the equator, providing connection to large areas, and plans to launch four more. The satellites developed for this purpose have had some technical issues, though, that will shorten their lifespan. According to estimates, SpaceX could launch its first satellites until the end of the decade, but this raises some questions about the company’s collaboration with Wyler, as his company’s licenses for a series of frequencies will expire by this time. Wyler has previously sought out Google with a similar plan, but he stayed at the search giant for one year only, approaching Elon Musk immediately afterwards.
Source: LTG