A new partnership between Google Cloud and SpaceX is set to deliver data, cloud services and applications to customers at the network edge, leveraging Starlink’s ability to provide high speed broadband Internet around the world and Google Cloud’s infrastructure.
SpaceX is to locate Starlink ground stations within Google data centre properties enabling the delivery of data from more than 1,500 Starlink satellites launched to orbit so far to locations at the network edge via Google Cloud, enabling the delivery of enterprise applications to virtually any location.
The service is expected to be available in the second half of 2021.
Organisations with broad footprints, like public sector agencies, businesses with presences at the network edge, or those operating in rural or remote areas, often require access to applications running in the cloud, or to cloud services like analytics, artificial intelligence, or machine learning.
Connectivity from Starlink’s constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites provides a path for these organisations to deliver data and applications to teams distributed across countries and continents.
“Applications and services running in the cloud can be transformative for organisations, whether they’re operating in a highly networked or remote environment,” stated Urs Hölzle, Senior Vice President, Infrastructure at Google Cloud.
“We are partnering with SpaceX to ensure that organisations with distributed footprints have seamless, secure and fast access to the critical applications and services they need to keep their teams up and running.”
SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell added: “Combining Starlink’s high-speed, low-latency broadband with Google’s infrastructure and capabilities provides global organisations with the secure and fast connection that modern organisations expect.”