Elon Musk and Richard Branson invest in satellite-Internet ventures
Elon Musk in May
*SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in May unveils the Dragon V2 Space Taxi, which
could eventually carry a human crew in space. (Patrick T. Fallon /
Bloomberg)*
*By Melody Petersen**
**Los Angeles Times**
**
**Jan 17, 2015*
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-satellite-entrepreneurs-20150117-story.html
Two space entrepreneurs — Elon Musk and Richard Branson — are adding
satellites to their cosmic ambitions.
In separate announcements this week, the two men said they were making
big investments in small satellites that could one day provide a global
low-cost Internet service.
It's highly unlikely that you can make a successful business out of
this. It's inconsistent with experience. These people are up against the
laws of physics. - Roger Rusch, a satellite industry consultant in Palos
Verdes
Musk, the founder of upstart rocket company SpaceX, was in Seattle on
Friday to open a new office where dozens of engineers will work on
developing smaller-sized satellites. In an earlier post on Twitter, he
explained that SpaceX was in the initial stages of creating "advanced
micro-satellites" that would orbit the earth in large clusters.
And on Wednesday, Branson, the British billionaire and founder of Virgin
Galactic, said he was investing in a venture called OneWeb Ltd., which
plans worldwide Internet service powered by a constellation of 648 small
satellites.
Some analysts speculated that Musk could eventually be involved in the
OneWeb venture, but neither its executives nor SpaceX would comment
Friday about that possibility.
More than half of the world's population lacks Internet access,
according to the International Telecommunications Union, an agency of
the United Nations. And the success of a satellite venture providing
Internet access at a fraction of the price would have broad
implications, especially for the poor living in remote locations.
But other companies have tried a similar undertaking before and found
the cost far too high.
"It's highly unlikely that you can make a successful business out of
this," said Roger Rusch, a satellite industry consultant in Palos
Verdes. "It's inconsistent with experience. These people are up against
the laws of physics."
SpaceX, which is headquartered in Hawthorne, has already rattled the
commercial space business by slashing the cost of launching a rocket.
SpaceX launches rocket, but attempt to land booster falls short
<http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-spacex-rocket-launches-20150110-story.html>
SpaceX launches rocket, but attempt to land booster falls short
<http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-spacex-rocket-launches-20150110-story.html>
Musk says he now wants to do the same thing in the satellite market — an
ambition that some analysts say could be realized.
Giles Thorne, a telecommunications analyst at Jefferies, wrote in a
report this week that OneWeb's plan for a constellation of small
satellites in low-Earth orbit was "a compelling combination." Any
involvement in OneWeb by SpaceX, he added, would compound the plan's
attractiveness, creating "a potentially disruptive" force in the
satellite communications business.
On Friday night, Musk was scheduled to attend a private gala at the
Seattle Center where SpaceX had put its Dragon capsule, battered from a
trip to space, on display.
Musk told Bloomberg News this week that the new Seattle-area office
planned to immediately hire 60 engineers. The office's staff, he said,
could rise to as many as a thousand people in two or three years.
Smaller satellites are crucial to lowering the cost of space-based
Internet and communications.
Current satellites can be the size of a small bus and weigh many tons.
Boeing last week unveiled a new smaller and lighter all-electric
satellite that it said would save operators millions of dollars, by
greatly lowering the cost of launching them to space.
But the micro-satellites would take this further.
Greg Wyler, OneWeb's chief executive, said the new venture's satellites
would each weigh less than 300 pounds and cost $350,000 each. He said
they would be manufactured quickly, using more of an assembly line
approach. Current satellites are manufactured one at a time — a process
that can take years — and can cost tens of millions of dollars.
Wyler expects the 648-satellite constellation — which would be 10 times
the size of the current largest satellite fleet — to be operational in
about four years.
He did not disclose how much money Branson or another new investor,
Qualcomm, the San Diego-based computer chip manufacturer, was providing
to OneWeb. Branson and Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm's executive chairman, will
sit on OneWeb's board.
Branson said the opportunities with an affordable worldwide Internet
service were "endless."
"People who don't currently have access to proper teaching will be able
to receive educations," he wrote in his blog. "People who want to create
jobs will be able to develop new businesses connecting with the rest of
the world."
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