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I can't tell if Google's actually providing services for Starlink (like network management, DNS, etc.), or this is just a peering agreement. The article makes

I can't tell if Google's actually providing services for Starlink (like network management, DNS, etc.), or this is just a peering agreement. The article makes it sound like Google somehow won a deal, but all it describes is SpaceX putting ground bases near their data centers. The mention of Azure towards the bottom makes me think Starlink is willing to do this kind of thing with any cloud provider.

skissane 5y ago
I think part of it is competition with Amazon's Project Kuiper. Kuiper is way behind Starlink in terms of actual satellites deployed, and is facing much higher launch costs too. Kuiper is going to have to find a competitive differentiator to try to make up for being so late to the market. One obvious potential differentiator is integration with AWS. So I think this GCP deal is primarily about having a response to Amazon on that topic. AWS integration is the kind of differentiator which will mainly appeal to B2B customers–although possibly B2C customers might experience some benefits of reduced latency. I think for a B2C differentiator, they may look at bundling Amazon Prime with Kuiper. I think it will be harder for SpaceX to answer that–SpaceX can probably do some deal with Netflix (for example), but Netflix is going to want to be paid for such a deal, whereas Kuiper can bundle Amazon Prime essentially for nothing. That said, if SpaceX is the technically better solution (more satellites, more capacity, etc), that is going to be more important to most consumers than free Amazon Prime included will be.
- m463 5y ago
  > Kuiper is way behind Starlink in terms of actual satellites deployed Wikipedia says they've contracted with ULA for some launches, but as far as I can tell, they've haven't launched anything. I think commercial development of space is a wonderful thing, but amazon seems to have been obstructing a lot while actually developing little. I think they need to prioritize on execution.

skissane 5y ago

I think part of it is competition with Amazon's Project Kuiper. Kuiper is way behind Starlink in terms of actual satellites deployed, and is facing much higher launch costs too. Kuiper is going to have to find a competitive differentiator to try to make up for being so late to the market. One obvious potential differentiator is integration with AWS. So I think this GCP deal is primarily about having a response to Amazon on that topic. AWS integration is the kind of differentiator which will mainly appeal to B2B customers–although possibly B2C customers might experience some benefits of reduced latency. I think for a B2C differentiator, they may look at bundling Amazon Prime with Kuiper. I think it will be harder for SpaceX to answer that–SpaceX can probably do some deal with Netflix (for example), but Netflix is going to want to be paid for such a deal, whereas Kuiper can bundle Amazon Prime essentially for nothing. That said, if SpaceX is the technically better solution (more satellites, more capacity, etc), that is going to be more important to most consumers than free Amazon Prime included will be.

m463 5y ago
> Kuiper is way behind Starlink in terms of actual satellites deployed Wikipedia says they've contracted with ULA for some launches, but as far as I can tell, they've haven't launched anything. I think commercial development of space is a wonderful thing, but amazon seems to have been obstructing a lot while actually developing little. I think they need to prioritize on execution.