Google invests in SpaceX 'to help take internet into space'

Deal could value private space company at $10 billion

The unmanned Falcon 9 rocket launched by SpaceX, on a cargo resupply service mission to the International Space Station, lifts off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida

SpaceX has received a $1 billion investment from Google to help it take the internet into space using satellites.

The deal values SpaceX at $10 billion, according to Bloomberg. Analysts said that the investment would probably see the two companies work together, as well as Google providing cash for the expensive kit needed for Musk’s plan for internet by satellite.

Both Google and Elon Musk’s private space company have been looking to expand the reach of the internet.

Musk said that he would look to take the internet to Mars, and improve it for people on Earth, by launching satellites into space that would help people in underconnected areas connect to the web. Google has been trialling similar plans, launching “Project Loon” in 2013, which flies internet-transmitting balloons over similar regions.

Musk told Bloomberg earlier in January that there were new investors in the firm that would likely become known at the end of the month. It is unknown whether that comment referred to Google.

They are competing with other firms such as Facebook, which has outlined plans to improve global internet connections using drones.

The companies often present the moves as humanitarian efforts, but they help the companies grow their user base, too.