Two “Tony Starks” Join Forces with Google Investment in Space X

January 21, 2015

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January 21, 2015 – Larry Page and Elon Musk are both billionaires and believers in the benefits of disruptive technology. And both are fascinated with space travel. Yesterday Page who is one half of the leadership duo at Google, and Musk combined forces with the former investing, along with Fidelity Investments, $1 billion USD in SpaceX, the private rocket company. In return Google and Fidelity get 10% of the company.

If there are two equivalents to the Marvel Comics technology hero, Tony Stark, aka “Iron Man” they would likely be Page and Musk. Page along with his partner Sergey Brin have created the most successful Internet company on the planet. Musk has parlayed his initial success as cofounder of PayPal into three disruptive businesses – Tesla Motors, SolarCity and SpaceX.

Both Google and SpaceX have a common goal – to bring the Internet to everyone on the planet using a network of satellites. In 2013 Google launched Project Loon with the goal to place hundreds of balloons in the stratosphere each carrying a transmitter for delivering Internet access to underserved areas of the planet. Recently Musk proposed a similar undertaking by SpaceX at a cost of $10 billion USD. Using hundreds of micro-satellites that would orbit the Earth at an altitude of 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) the SpaceX system would offer connectivity to rival fiber optic cable. It would seem that the synergy of common goals may be behind Google’s investment. Fidelity’s partnership may be more an expression of admiration for both Page and Musk as technology leaders. They have stakes in both Tesla and SolarCity.

For both Google and SpaceX to transmit Internet signals, they will need to buy radio spectrum bandwidth. Some of the money invested may be used for this purpose. Another challenge will be the building of a ground station antenna network to receive satellite signals.

The race to provide ubiquitous information sharing through the Internet is heating up. SpaceX and Google join Facebook which recently announced its plans to deliver the Internet to underserved areas on the planet. And another player, WorldVu Satellites is working with Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic and Qualcomm, the telecommunications company, to provide the same.