Google Inc. and Fidelity Investments have taken the plunge with SpaceX and invested $1 billion in exchange for a roughly 10% stake in the American space transport services company. This newly found cash influx takes the company’s valuation beyond $10 billion and brings CEO and Founder Elon Musk that much closer to his goal of bringing the Internet to remote regions of the world.
This news of Google and Fidelity’s investment in SpaceX comes on the heels of a recent report here on Immortal News which indicated that the web giant was about to pledge roughly a billion dollars to the company. Now that they have, it only furthers Musk’s futuristic plan to build a city on the planet Mars. For Google, it translates into an opportunity to expand into remote areas of the world. For investors in Fidelity’s mutual fund, it means the possibility of future capital gains when shares are sold.
While the mutual fund and Internet giant, Fidelity and Google, have backed the SpaceX satellite Internet program, satellite industry veteran Greg Wyler, formerly employed by Google, has secured funding from Qualcomm and Virgin Group, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Wyler has launched a venture, OneWeb Ltd., with the intent of creating a constellation of low-orbiting satellites which will use a large block of radio spectrum under his control to create a global WiFi. The radio band under his control is one advantage over Musk. Wyler has estimate his Internet via satellites program will cost as much as $2 billion.
Google’s billion dollar investment into SpaceX isn’t the companies first foray into expanding the Internet through futuristic technologies, as the company previously dabbled in programs which incorporated high-altitude balloons and solar-powered drones to spread web access.
If all goes well, Musk’s dream is to take the proceeds from his satellite Internet venture and leverage it to fund the creation of a city on Mars, Discovery reports.
What do you think of Elon Musk’s dreams to spread the Internet around the world in order to fund an expedition to the fourth planet from the Sun?
