SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is looking to join the global connection craze by launching satellites that will provide internet access to people around the world.
The project is being developed in a partnership with WorldVu Satellites founder Greg Wyler, and it is aimed at sending 700 satellites, each weighing less than 250 pounds, into space, according to RT. Musk is currently talking to officials in Florida and Colorado about finding a suitable location for setting up a factory where the satellites will be built.
Wyler has been involved in satellite projects in the past, having reportedly worked on such a project at Google before leaving the company, believing the search giant wouldn't be able to manufacture the satellites.
Each satellite is expected to cost around $1 million, and the whole venture is expected to cost $1 billion, Tech Times reported. The Wall Street Journal said that Musk hasn't shown whether he is completely dedicated to the project.
SpaceX is expected to provide the infrastructure for the project, as the private space exploration firm currently has a launch facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and a launchpad in California.
If Musk does decide to commit, he would be joining several other organizations looking to provide global internet connection, according to Tech Times. These companies are looking to achieve this goal in different ways, with Facebook designing drones for delivering internet access, and Google's Project Loon designed to use balloons to bring Wi-Fi to the Southern Hemisphere at some point in 2015.
"We haven't taken a dime of revenue, but if we can figure out a way to take the Internet to five billion people, that's very valuable," Astro Teller, head of Google's X research division, said at an MIT conference.
