Google has won a deal to supply internet to SpaceX’s satellite broadband system, Starlink.
The partnership involves the backend infrastructure to Starlink, which uses ground stations on the planet to beam internet to orbiting satellites in space, and then relay the broadband to customers on Earth.
SpaceX has launched over 1,500 satellites for Starlink, and it plans on launching thousands more to help it serve customers across the globe. But equally important is building enough ground stations capable of beaming the internet data to the satellites.
Under the Google deal, SpaceX will begin building more ground stations at Google data centers, which are currently active in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. The goal is to ensure that Starlink connectivity is reliable and has low latency.
“Google Cloud's high-capacity private network will support the delivery of Starlink's global satellite internet service, bringing businesses and consumers seamless connectivity to the cloud and internet, and enabling the delivery of critical enterprise applications to virtually any location,” the companies said.
Google and SpaceX also say the deal is good for businesses and governments operating in remote regions. Although Starlink is best known for supplying high-speed internet to consumers, SpaceX also envisions the system serving enterprise customers.
"Combining Starlink's high-speed, low-latency broadband with Google's infrastructure and capabilities provides global organizations with the secure and fast connection that modern organizations expect," said SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell in the announcement.
The companies say the benefits from the deal will begin rolling out to enterprise customers in the second half of this year. According to CNBC, SpaceX will initially build the new ground stations at Google data centers in the US before expanding internationally.
According to users and Speedtest.com data, SpaceX is currently delivering median download speeds at 80Mbps with latencies at 30 milliseconds or higher. However, the system is still in beta, and brief outages can occur. In the long-term, SpaceX plans on upgrading Starlink's speeds to 1Gbps and then 10Gbps.