SpaceX Joins Fray in Satellite Internet with $1B Investment

摘要

SpaceX's Jan. 20 confirmation that Google and mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments had invested a combined $1 billion in SpaceX set the stage for what could be a multiyear competition for capital and engineering resources among consortia aiming to build satellite networks for global Internet connectivity. Google was not talking, but industry officials immediately assumed its SpaceX ownership stake was not based on Google's newfound attraction for launch vehicles, but rather on SpaceX founder Elon Musk's decision to build an Internet backbone in low Earth orbit. In a short note on its website, SpaceX said the funds "will be used to support continued innovation in the areas of space transport, reusability and satellite manufacturing." The announcement followed Musk's Jan. 16 speech in Seattle unveiling plans to open a headquarters there for an Internet satellite project that ultimately would launch 4,000 satellites.