Elon Musk Wants To Bring The Internet To Space

Elon Musk wants to bring the Internet to space.

The billionaire CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX (who, mind you, also serves as chairman of SolarCity and is now working on the Hyperloop, a super-fast tubular transport system) launched a new project Friday aimed at building a satellite system to bring high-speed Internet to the whole planet. He announced the initiative at the ribbon-cutting of SpaceX's new office in Seattle.

The new venture will be a branch of the private space travel company. The company plans to put hundreds of satellites into orbit around the Earth -- circling the planet at about 750 miles above the surface, far closer than the typical communications satellites that soar at altitudes of 22,000 miles. The goal is to speed up data flows and deliver high-speed Internet to the more than 3 billion people who still have shoddy access to the Web, according to Bloomberg Businessweek’s Ashlee Vance, whose biography of Musk is due out in May.

“Our focus is on creating a global communications system that would be larger than anything that has been talked about to date,” Musk told Vance.

SpaceX did not respond to a request from The Huffington Post for comment on Saturday morning. Friday's event was closed to media, though attendees tweeted photos and excerpts of Musk's speech.

Great meeting with @elonmusk tonight. WA is ready for the next space revolution! @SpaceX pic.twitter.com/SV1nH135q0— Governor Jay Inslee (@GovInslee) January 17, 2015

It’s uncle...

Source: Science - The Huffington Post - January 17, 2015 Category: Science Source Type: news