Photo: YouTube screenshot
After a crazy week during which SpaceX made all the headlines and Elon Musk was the man of the hour, you'd think the company would need a bit more time to enjoy its success and get ready for the next mission.
Except it doesn't have that kind of luxury since a new launch is scheduled as soon as February 17 - yes, that's this Saturday. This one, however, won't be a test anymore, looking to send hisdeSAT's Paz Earth observational satellite into orbit instead.
Futurism.com reveals the rocket will have an additional payload consisting of two of SpaceX's own satellites, of which Musk hopes to put into orbit into the thousands over the coming years. The goal is to have as many as 12,000 of them hovering above our planet and providing broadband internet connection at all times and all places.
The two being sent out this Saturday are the first prototypes completed by the space company after three years of work on the project. They will be tested using nine ground stations spread out from Washington to California and Texas. Out of the nine, five are located at SpaceX's facilities with three mounted inside vans, which can be easily located anywhere within reach.
The one missing from the nine is listed at the Tesla Motors Headquarters in Fremont, California. This fuels the speculation that Tesla vehicles might make use of the network once available for everything internet-related. And with the direction vehicle development is going - we're talking about the connectivity aspect and the autonomous driving bit - there's going to be a lot of that.
Tesla's cars are already permanently connected to the web using 3G and 4G technology, but if a sister company (we guess we can call SpaceX that) develops a service that can replace the current solution, we don't see why the EV-maker wouldn't make the switch.
It's too early to draw any conclusions and it could all come down to the fact SpaceX could have used a ground station in the Bay Area and didn't want to waste one of its vans when there was a Tesla facility already in place. More should become apparent as work on this project progresses and Elon Musk's lips become looser.
Futurism.com reveals the rocket will have an additional payload consisting of two of SpaceX's own satellites, of which Musk hopes to put into orbit into the thousands over the coming years. The goal is to have as many as 12,000 of them hovering above our planet and providing broadband internet connection at all times and all places.
The two being sent out this Saturday are the first prototypes completed by the space company after three years of work on the project. They will be tested using nine ground stations spread out from Washington to California and Texas. Out of the nine, five are located at SpaceX's facilities with three mounted inside vans, which can be easily located anywhere within reach.
The one missing from the nine is listed at the Tesla Motors Headquarters in Fremont, California. This fuels the speculation that Tesla vehicles might make use of the network once available for everything internet-related. And with the direction vehicle development is going - we're talking about the connectivity aspect and the autonomous driving bit - there's going to be a lot of that.
Tesla's cars are already permanently connected to the web using 3G and 4G technology, but if a sister company (we guess we can call SpaceX that) develops a service that can replace the current solution, we don't see why the EV-maker wouldn't make the switch.
It's too early to draw any conclusions and it could all come down to the fact SpaceX could have used a ground station in the Bay Area and didn't want to waste one of its vans when there was a Tesla facility already in place. More should become apparent as work on this project progresses and Elon Musk's lips become looser.
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