SpaceX - Connecting the Unconnected

Credit: Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

Via Twitter, Elon Musk, who is the executive and designer at SpaceX as well as CEO of Tesla Motors, informally confirmed that SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) is developing state-of-the-art satellites that are to provide a global network of affordable, unrestricted, high-speed Internet access. 

SpaceX is still in the early stages of developing advanced micro-satellites operating in large formations. Announcement in 2 to 3 months.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 11, 2014

According to the Wall Street Journal, Musk and Greg Wyler, who is a former Google Inc. executive and founder of WorldVu Satellites Ltd., have discussed a potential partnership between the two companies to collaboratively have these smaller, light-weight satellites manufactured in masses; satellite manufactures are now able to bid for the job. However, for reasons of cost reduction, some parts would be produced in-house. Talks with state officials in Colorado and Florida regarding possible location of factories have been held. 

Fundamental objective of this project is to launch about 640 satellites, weighting less than 125 kilograms (250 pounds - "half the size of the smallest current commercial communications satellites") each and costing less than $1 million per unit, that ultimately provide means for everyone to connect - even if one lives in or travels to the most remote of places. By the end of this decade, half of the project's satellites could be orbiting Earth at some 800 kilometer (500 miles) above the surface in constellations that blanket the planet with constant Internet access and potentially put through 14 gigabits per second, "reducing lag time and delays with service."  The $1.5 billion price-tag of the project might seem tremendously high, but if it successfully goes through, SpaceX as well as WorldVu would surely benefit monetarily but also promote their brand images with a mission that is quite altruistic in its roots.

Economies of scale, producing dozens/hundreds of standardized satellites at a time, would create a competitive advantage; however, Sierra Nevada Corp. and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. are competing against the project with their own production of notable small satellites. Google and Facebook are also working on projects that aim to provide global Internet access to millions of people. In the next few years, the upper atmosphere will become the battleground of a competition for the most superior, wide-ranged and efficient global Internet provider.

Living in a rural area where the Internet connection is tremendously slow - less than six mbps (no, I am not kidding) - I can still consider myself fortunate. More than half of the global population (about 60%, according to the International Telecommunication Union) does not use the Internet, mostly because they do not have access to it. The global usage of internet has been growing by an average of 11% annually since 2005 and 7.5% annually in the last three years. By the end of this decade, hopefully, a provider for affordable, unrestricted, high-speed Internet will be there to connect the unconnected - and perhaps offer me a speedier alternative while they're at it.

by Peter Steenhuis

Sources:
https://twitter.com/elonmusk
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/11/11/elon-musk-confirms-spacex-is-building-internet-satellites/?KEYWORDS=spacex
http://rt.com/usa/203647-elon-musk-internet-satellites/
http://online.wsj.com/articles/elon-musks-next-mission-internet-satellites-1415390062
http://www.iflscience.com/technology/spacex-will-soon-be-launching-satellites-unfettered-low-cost-internet
http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx

Space Tourism - The Birth of a New Industry

On the 31st of October, 2014, the crash of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo during a testing session has raised questions concerning the future of space tourism - its safety, sustainability, and how government should regulate it. In this first blog post, I will start out discussing the business of space tourism. 

“Forget climbing Everest, trekking to the South Pole or canoeing up the Amazon: How about taking a trip to the far side of the moon?” (McKinley, 2012) That is how Jesse McKinley of The New York Times describes the next phase of adventurous “extreme-tourism." Entrepreneurialism has given birth to a brand new industry – space tourism. 

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo during a
successful test flight earlier this year
Credit: Virgin.com

Space Tourism, as the name already demonstrates, is a branch of tourism which attempts to take customers on a recreational voyage into space, the outer reaches of the atmosphere - into the mesosphere (roughly 50 km above earth's surface) and above. Tourists will be able to experience weightlessness in “zero-gravity” and to enjoy breathtaking, scenic views of our home planet – earth – from space. It is also considered “the ultimate get-away-from-it-all” (McKinley, 2012) – making it seem that humans have conquered all of earth’s corners, and that we have simply ran out of places to go. Suborbital tourism, as space tourism is also referred to, is an industry that has been rapidly growing in recent years. Complete commercialization is clearly going to happen within the next few years; however, hiccups, as demonstrated by Virgin Galactic's disastrous crash, seem to be inevitable. Commercial space transportation, according to a definition by the Federal Aviation Administration, is carried out “using orbital and suborbital vehicles owned and operated by private companies or organizations for profit, procured through a competitive bidding process” (FAA, 2010). This commercial space transportation and tourism business has been initialized by entrepreneurs with enormous amounts of capital and a dream. Entrepreneurs, such as Elon Musk and Richard Branson, took this industry to the next level, from an industry that has “a plan” to an “industry moving toward fruition” (McKinley, 2012). Resources and technology that had been solely available to the NASA (for reasons of high cost) have been decreasing in price and increasing in its availability, making it easier and more feasible for entrepreneurs to enter into this innovative commercial space industry. In the coming years, affordability of a trip into space for the average person will potentially become reality. Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, XCOR, and Space Adventures are leading the industry of space tourism in their own differentiated ways - but all with one common, primary goal: black digits on the bottom line - profit.

by Peter Steenhuis

Sources:

Federal Aviation Administration. (Sept. 2010). The Economic Impact of Commercial Space Transportation on the U.S. Economy in 2009. Federal Aviation Administration. http://www.faa.gov/news/updates/media/Economic%20Impact%20Study%20September%202010_20101026_PS.pdf. Web.

McKinley, Jesse. (7 Sept. 2012). Space Tourism Is Here! Wealthy Adventurers Wanted. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/travel/space-tourism-is-here-wealthy-adventurers-wanted.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0. Web.