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space

Article Index

How to Profit from Elon Musk's "Space Internet"

By , Defense + Tech Specialist, Money Morning • @Robinson_STI -

Elon Musk

More than 3 billion people on Earth still have no or poor access to the Internet. Elon Musk wants to build a network of hundreds of low-orbiting satellites that will deliver high-speed, low-cost Internet to the most remote places on Earth.

But he won't be building this "Space Internet" alone. One tech company is already helping him make his dream a reality.

Here's the company poised to reap big gains by helping Musk...

SpaceX Picks Up Where NASA Left Off

By , Defense + Tech Specialist, Money Morning • @Robinson_STI -

A few minutes before dawn yesterday we crossed what could be a major space-related milestone.

An intriguing little startup firm called SpaceX launched one of its Falcon 9 rockets from Cape Canaveral, Fl., to dock its Dragon spacecraft with the International Space Station.

Make no mistake about it - this could mark a turning point for the U.S.

NASA ended the shuttle program last year. That leaves the U.S. hitching rides to the Space Station from our "good friends" the Russians. That's not good for national security, much less for innovation and exploration.

We've already talked about the "New Space Race" - part of that being the asteroid mining initiative that private company Planetary Resources is embarking upon.

When it comes to space transportation, thankfully, SpaceX plans to pick up where cash-strapped NASA left off.

Saturday's launch could eventually have a value of at least $1.6 billion - that's the total price tag for a contract NASA gave to SpaceX for 12 Space Station flights.

But there's more to the story than that...

Commercializing Space Travel

I predict that in a few short years, commercial space travel will become routine.

Not only will we be mining all those near-space asteroids for vital resources, we will be able to visit Mars, and even send tourists out for close-up views of the planets.

That's why, even though Saturday was just a test run, there's a lot riding on it.

The company, crew, NASA, and investors all hope this new launch pulls it together for the firm and the budding commercial space sector.

CEO Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 and plowed $100 million of his own money into it. What they're after - eventually - is the ability to offer space travel at approximate one-third of the cost per passenger that Russia can do it today, according to a recent Wired interview with another SpaceX co-founder.

If anyone can do it, it's Elon Musk.

Born in South Africa, he is a talented young entrepreneur with a knack for making money. (This is the man who was the inspiration for multi-billionaire industrialist Tony Stark in the film version of "Iron Man" - both for director Jon Favreau and for actor Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Stark.)

And he's part of the reason I believe in SpaceX, even if the mission tomorrow goes bust.

This is just not a man who likes to take "no" for an answer.

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A Hundred Billion Reasons to Invest in Robotics Technology

By , Defense + Tech Specialist, Money Morning • @Robinson_STI -

Here's a 100 billion reasons why space technology should be on your radar screen -especially if you're interested in robotics.

According to the journal Nature, the Milky Way Galaxy alone contains at least 100 billion planets.

Now forgive me if I sound excited...but that is huge.

After all, just 20 years ago, astronomers still widel y believed that our own tiny solar system contained allof the major planets.

So when I talk about how we are entering an Era of Radical Change, this is exactly what I'm talking about.

It's not about tiny incremental changes but gigantic shifts in thought.

And here is something else to ponder...

With all of this new data, scientists now believe the universe may contain more than 150 billion galaxies. The math is enough to make your head spin.

How Nuclear-Powered Robots Are Winning the New Space Race

All this brings to mind one key point: The odds that we are alone in the universe grow smaller and smaller every day.

That puts us on the cusp of a New Space Race - one that will undoubtedly favor robots.

That's why I think NASA's new Spidernaut is such an important piece of technology. It's an eight-legged robot that looks like it crawled right out of a sci-fi movie.

NASA plans to use these robots to help construct a new generation of space-science platforms that are so large and fragile they'll have to be built in orbit.

As it turns out, spiders are really nimble creatures. NASA designed the prototype arachnid robot to have the grace and weight distribution of real spiders.

If the technology works as planned, these giant spider robots would crawl across a "web" of space tethers so as not to damage delicate equipment.

Now how cool is that?...

It all goes to show you that despite the soft global economy and budget cuts, we've actually never had more interest in space exploration.

But this time it's not just the United States and Russia. Indeed, China, India and Japan are also funding major programs.



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