SpaceX founder and Tesla Motors bigwig Elon Musk recently revealed another of his ambitious projects; an internet connection that will link Mars with the world wide web. Musk hopes to achieve this by launching hundreds of geosynchronous micro-satellites that will (in the short term) improve internet access on Earth, but eventually (and perhaps more excitingly) bring internet service to Mars if and when the human race makes its way there. The satellites will orbit the Earth from about 750 miles above the atmosphere, much closer than traditional satellites. They will provide fast and cost-effective internet access to billion of people currently experiencing limited functionality. The project will be engineered out of a new SpaceX office, which opened in Seattle on Friday.
Elon Musk recently revealed another of his ambitious projects; an internet connection that links Mars with the world wide web
Musk said their focus is on “Creating a global communications system that would be larger than anything that has been talked about to date.” He says the service will, in theory, “Rival fibre optic cables on land while also making the Internet available to remote and poor regions that don’t have access.” The science behind the project (in layman's terms at least) is that “The speed of light is 40 percent faster in the vacuum of space than it is for fibre,” and the long-term idea is for it to be “The primary means of long-distance Internet traffic and to serve people in sparsely populated areas.”
Musk said their focus is on “Creating a global communications system that would be larger than anything that has been talked about to date”
The final goal is for the network to serve as a foundation for a system that will not only bring the internet to Mars, but create a “Long-term revenue source for SpaceX to be able to fund a city on Mars” within the next few decades. Don't start booking off time for a vacation to the red planet yet though, as Musk has said the project will take at least five years and around $10 billion to even get off the ground. Still, Musk says he plans (best case scenario) to put people on Mars in just 10 to 12 years. He said “It will be important for Mars to have a global communications network,” which he doesn't see anyone else doing, and that, whilst the plan to bring faster internet to impoverished regions is something he cares about, he sees the project as little more than “A long-term revenue source for SpaceX to be able to fund a city on Mars.”
The project will start with only around 60 employees, but could grow to at least 1,000 within the next few years
The project will start with only around 60 employees, but could grow to at least 1,000 within the next few years. Alongside this project (which currently doesn't have a specific name), employees will also be working on SpaceX’s Falcon rockets, Dragon capsules, and additional vehicles to carry various supplies (and people) into space. Musk said they want “Top engineering talent of all kinds that either live in Seattle or that want to move to the Seattle area and work on electronics, software, structures, and power systems.” Musk, who also founded PayPal and has pioneered the electric sports car with Tesla, also plans to develop a high-speed transport system called the Hyperloop that he describes as “A cross between Concorde, a railgun and an air hockey table,” so he's got his fingers in more than a few technological pies right now. Still, of all his projects, this latest would appear to be the most ambitious yet!
