Skybox, Skynet. Potato, potahto? The push to make sure everyone on earth has internet access. I don't get it.
Google begins its satellite push, buying Skybox for $500M
By Kevin Fitchard June 10, 2014 2:10 PM
As
its name implies, Skybox is trying to build a constellation of
microsatellites that will take high-resolution images of the earth’s
surface and then mine data from the photos and videos it captures.
According to Skybox’s
blog:
“We’ve built and launched the world’s smallest
high-resolution imaging satellite, which collects beautiful and useful
images and video every day. We have built an incredible team and
empowered them to push the state-of-the-art in imaging to new
heights. The time is right to join a company who can challenge us to
think even bigger and bolder, and who can support us in accelerating our
ambitious vision.”
Google confirmed it plans to use Skybox’s
images to improve Google Maps, but Google added that the data Skybox
collects would help other aspects of the company’s business, including
Google’s numerous internet access projects.
An image of the Somalia coast taken by SkySat-1 (source:Skybox)
“Their
satellites will help keep our maps accurate with up-to-date imagery,”
Google said in a statement. “Over time, we also hope that Skybox’s team
and technology will be able to
help improve Internet access and disaster relief — areas Google has
long been interested in.”
Skybox’s first satellite SkySat-1 –
about the size of a mini-fridge – went into orbit in November atop a
Dnepr rocket launched from Russia, and it soon began snapping its first
sub-meter-resolution photos. The company’s plan is to put a total of 24
birds into low-Earth orbit.
A size comparison of imaging
satellites currently in orbit. The Hubble is pointed toward the heavens,
not Earth, while GeoEye satellites are what Google uses today for
imaging data. (Source:Skybox)
This isn’t Google first
investment in satellite technology. It took part in the initial funding
of O3b Networks, which launched its first four satellites last summer.
Unlike Skybox, O3b is focused on broadband connectivity (it’s name
stands for the “other 3 billion) in underdeveloped areas of the world.
While Google X’s Project Loon isn’t using
satellites per se, it’s operating under the same principles.
Loon
balloons, like internet satellites, blanket the earth’s surface with
wireless signals, but they ride on the atmosphere’s stratospheric winds
rather than hang in orbit. Google’s recent purchase of drone-maker Titan
Aerospace is another means to solve the same problem, using
self-propelled aircraft to pinpoint mobile coverage instead of
free-floating balloons.
How Google would use Skybox in its
internet access efforts remains to be seen. It could choose to fit
future SkySats with broadband radios, building a communications
satellite constellation similar to that of Iridium or Globalstar.
Skybox’s relatively low altitude would mean Google could deliver
lower-latency connections compared to the big satellite broadband rigs
way up in geo-stationary orbit.
A look at the various satellite orbits. Skybox sits in low-Earth orbit just above the atmosphere
(Source:Gigaom)
Or Google could just mean it will use Skybox
as an “eye in the sky” to help it plan and coordinate its other
broadband projects. For instance, a Skybox’s imagery could identify the
biggest areas of devastation after an earthquake or tsunami and route
drones or Loon balloons to those locations.
This most likely
isn’t the last satellite technology purchase or investment we see from
Google. The Wall Street Journal last week reported that Google plans to
invest between $1 billion and $3 billion in satellite technology and has
hired a team of experts from O3b and Space Systems/Loral to help run
the project. Space News reported that Google is backing a company called
either L5 or WorldVu that has picked up a satellite communications
spectrum, which could be used to create an orbital broadband network.
The
details of Google’s satellite plans are slowly starting emerge, and we
don’t know how all of these
pieces will fit together. But if you want to get an idea of what a
Google space-based network might look like, check out satellite
communications analyst Tim Farrar’s detailed blog post on the subject.