Hyperdrive
Musk Dares to Go Where Others Failed With Space-Based Web
- SpaceX launches communications satellites, possible vanguards
- Races to beam broadband from space through satellites
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When Elon Musk’s SpaceX heaved two communications satellites aloft last week, he joined a space race that’s foiled plenty of other dreamers.
Billions of dollars have vanished in the quest to provide internet service from low-earth orbit. Globalstar Inc. and Iridium Communications Inc. crashed into bankruptcy but are still at it, while another effort folded despite backing from Bill Gates, Boeing Co. and others.