New Venture Would Launch As Many As 700 Small Satellites Into Orbit

Elon Musk's latest vision is for low-cost Internet service for everyone on the planet delivered by a constellation of up to 700 satellites each weighing less than 250 pounds and costing under $1 million each.

That's quite a vision, considering the most modern communications satellites currently cost several million dollars and weighs at least 500 pounds.

Engadget relays a report from The Wall Street Journal that Musk, the man behind SpaceX and Tesla Motors, was approached by Greg Wiler, the founder of O3b Networks and who was a leader in Google's exploration of the possibility of satellite-delivered Internet services until earlier this year. Wyler recently founded a new company called WorldVu.

The pair has reportedly already been in discussions with entities in Florida and Colorado about the possibility of establishing manufacturing facilities in those states.

The venture is still in its very early stages, according to the report, and there is no guarantee that Musk would stay with it through the launch of any actual spacecraft. And the bar is high. It is estimated that development of the satellites would cost a billion dollars, and there are multiple regulatory hurdles that would need to be cleared before you started getting your Internet service beamed down from space.

(Elon Musk pictured in file photo)

FMI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldVu_satellite_constellation