GOOGLE FACILITIES TO HOUSE STARLINK GROUND STATIONS

Google Cloud has today announced a new partnership with SpaceX to deliver data, cloud services, and applications to customers at the network edge or remote locations through Starlink, a global satellite internet service.

Based on the partnership agreement, SpaceX will begin to locate Starlink ground stations within Google data center properties, enabling Google Cloud’s private network to support the delivery of Starlink internet service.

Starlink is a satellite internet service developed by SpaceX. This network is made up of a constellation of small satellites in low Earth orbit, and to-date, more than 1,500 Starlink satellites have being launched to orbit, forming a globally available network service.

“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. We are proud to work with Google to deliver this access to businesses, public sector organizations, and many other groups operating around the world,” said Gwynne Shotwell, President and Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX.

This partnership gives Google Cloud the ability to directly leverage Starlink in delivering its cloud services to agencies, organizations, businesses and consumers at the network edge, or those operating in rural or remote areas, as well as those requiring its cloud services for mission critical workloads.

“Applications and services running in the cloud can be transformative for organizations, whether they’re operating in a highly networked or remote environment,” said Urs Hölzle, Senior Vice President, Infrastructure at Google Cloud.

“We are delighted to partner with SpaceX to ensure that organizations with distributed footprints have seamless, secure, and fast access to the critical applications and services they need to keep their teams up and running.”

As announced, this new connectivity offering delivered by Google Cloud and Starlink to enterprise customers is expected to be available in the second half of 2021.