Google Plans To Launch Satellites To Expand Global Internet Access

MOUNTAIN VIEW (KCBS)— For some time now Google has been trying to spread the Internet in places where virtually no one is online. Those efforts may now expand to include a fleet of low-orbiting satellites.

Google's Project Loon launched last year testing high-altitude balloons, providing Internet access to regions of the world without it. Now the company is reported to want to use satellites for the same purpose.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google plans to launch 180 small high-capacity satellites. The project could cost between $1 and 3 billion. One satellite consultant told the journal if Google succeeds it could amount to a "sea change" in the way people get access to the Internet from the developing world to even some suburban areas of the U.S.

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