SpaceX and Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk is reportedly planning to launch hundreds of satellites to provide high-speed internet services to remote corners of Earth, and eventually to Mars.
The satellites are expected to orbit the earth at altitudes of up to 750 miles, accelerating data flow and providing access to internet to three billion people who are currently denied such services.
Musk was quoted by Bloomberg Businessweek as saying: "Our focus is on creating a global communications system that would be larger than anything that has been talked about to date."
Planned to be managed from SpaceX’s new office in Seattle, US, the proposed space internet project is estimated to cost around $10bn and will take at least five years to roll-out.
According to Musk, the project will enable transfer of data packets from satellite to satellite rather than through routers and terrestrial networks.
Musk added: "The speed of light is 40% faster in the vacuum of space than it is for fibre.
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By GlobalData"The long-term potential is to be the primary means of long-distance internet traffic and to serve people in sparsely populated areas."
The SpaceX founder is planning to build a colony on Mars. He plans to use the new network of satellites to connect people on the red planet to the web in future.
Being financed by Virgin Group and Qualcomm, startup OneWeb has previously announced plans to launch more than 600 satellites into space.
Virgin Group founder Richard Branson told Bloomberg Businessweek: "I don’t think Elon (Musk) can do a competing thing.
"There isn’t space for another network, like there physically is not enough space. If Elon wants to get into this area, the logical thing for him would be to tie up with us, and if I were a betting man, I would say the chances of us working together rather than separately would be much higher."
Image: Elon Musk and US President Barack Obama at the Falcon 9 launch site. Photo: courtesy of Bill Ingalls / Nasa.
