Google, Fidelity invest $1 billion in SpaceX and satellite Internet plan

The Information reported on Monday that, according to “several people familiar with the talks,” Google is considering investing in SpaceX to support its plan to deliver hundreds or thousands of micro satellites into a low (750 mile) orbit around the globe to serve Internet to rural and developing areas of the world. The Information's sources indicated that Google was in the “final stages” of investing in SpaceX and valued the company at “north of $10 billion.” SpaceX is apparently courting other investors as well.

Ars has contacted both SpaceX and Google for comment and will update when we receive a response.
Musk on Friday told a gathering in Seattle that SpaceX's new office in that city would be dedicated to this satellite Internet service. Musk's announcement came just days after another competing satellite Internet company, OneWeb, announced its own investments from Richard Branson's Virgin Group as well as Qualcomm.

Both companies are in the early stages of developing their services, but they have key differences: Musk insists that his micro-satellite design is more sophisticated than that of Greg Wyler, the founder and CEO of OneWeb. But OneWeb grew out of O3b, a micro-satellite venture that Google invested more than $1 billion into. When Wyler left O3b, he brought with him the rights to the radio frequency the satellites would need to beam Internet back to Earth, courtesy of the International Telecommunications Union

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