SpaeCor News

Google could be planning to colonize space by creating the first permanent network in space, in effect extending the internet from earth to the moon.   Through a business standpoint this makes perfect sense, what could be better than having a monopoly in space!  Google has long been looking for a way to defeat their rivals at Microsoft and maybe they have found their edge.


Google’s lunar Lander challenge, partnered with the X prize foundation, offers a concrete plan for entering space and landing on the moon.  The X prize foundation while possessing a  short history of success created an entirely new industry.  Support of the first challenge  included the Virgin group. The Virgin group created Virgin Galactic as a result of the first privately built reusable space craft.  Virgin Galactic’s business model was to take advantage of  the LEO(low earth orbit) tourist industry . The question is does Google have some secret business plan?

The companies competing in the lunar challenge need to have some long standing business plan in order to profit.  The prize money alone is not enough to cover the massive expenses that will be incurred.  Secretly each company is working towards their own agenda and Google may be doing the same. For example why would Google want HD video to be transmitted back to earth and how could they do this? Streaming live content through space has never been done before and may even seem impossible. However  Google may be fronting the prize money in hopes that these companies will be able to test a new form of internet in space Google has partnered with NASA with called the DTN.

NASA and Google partnered up to create the deep space internet. This passage from Nasa.gov perfectly describes the new Space internet.

“Unlike TCP/IP on Earth, the DTN does not assume a continuous end-to-end connection. In its design, if a destination path cannot be found, the data packets are not discarded. Instead, each network node keeps the information as long as necessary until it can communicate safely with another node. This store-and-forward method, similar to basketball players safely passing the ball to the player nearest the basket means information does not get lost when no immediate path to the destination exists. Eventually, the information is delivered to the end user.”

The new DTN will allow for more real time data transfer than the current DSN or Deep space network currently in place.  This will offer a huge advantage when creating and administering computer systems in space crafts, for travel to the moon and beyond.