How outer space is becoming the next Internet
▻http://www.cnbc.com/2015/07/22/how-outer-space-is-becoming-the-next-internet.html
Silicon Valley venture capitalists are betting big, pouring $1.7 billion into space-related companies this year, according to CB Insights. Even if you exclude the $1 billion of that raised just by SpaceX, the market has still attracted almost twice as much money in 2015 as in the past three years combined. Planet Labs closed a $118 million round in April.
Google, of course, is firmly in the mix. The Web giant shelled out $500 million last year for satellite maker Skybox Imaging, a venture-backed start-up whose technology can bolster products like search, maps and Google Earth.
“There are going to be a number of companies built upon the back of all this fundamental technology,” said Peter Hebert, co-founder of Lux Capital, a Silicon Valley venture firm that’s investing heavily against that thesis. “This is a huge wave that’s going to play out over decades.”