Apple Is Looking Into Satellite Technology To Support Its Devices

Apple is reportedly working on satellite technology to send data to its users’ devices. The first application of this project is expected to be rolled out to the public in the next five years.

So far, we have not had much information on what the tech will do. At this point, we cannot be sure if the project can ever make it to reality either. Apple may develop its own satellites or utilizes those of others.

If the iPhone maker succeeds with this plan, a satellite system can bring about a number of benefits, including improving Internet connection, mobile reception, maps, and location tracking for its vast user base, which can lessen the company’s dependence on carriers.

According to Bloomberg’s report, Apple is having more than 10 employees on this project, and the number is steadily increasing. Leaders of the team are John Fenwick and Michael Trela, two aerospace engineers, veterans of Skybox Imaging, a firm on satellite imaging, now belongs to Google. The two engineers worked for Google and are employed by Apple back in 2017.

Satellite technology is gaining the interest of a lot of tech companies besides Apple. Amazon and SpaceX are working on their Internet service via satellites.

The history of the satellite industry is rough though, with broken dreams and failure of names like Teledisc, Iridium, and GlobalStar. These companies spent a hefty amount of funding on launching a fleet of satellites into orbit but they were unable to sustain them all due to technological and financial difficulties.

For now, we will have to wait and see what Apple’s plan goes. However, as Tim Cook, the company’s CEO has shown interest in the project, as reported by Bloomberg, it has the potential to survive, especially when the company is investing a large amount on R&D.