Apple secretly develops satellite technology to send internet connection and other data to iPhone
According to the media report, Apple has established a secret team to develop satellites and related wireless technologies and strives to find new ways to send data such as Internet connections directly to company equipment.
People familiar with the matter said that Apple has about 12 engineers from the aerospace, satellite, and antenna design industries working on the project, with the goal of deploying their results within five years. Research on this project is still in its early stages and may be abandoned. The clear direction and use of satellites have not yet been finalized. However, Apple CEO Tim Cook has shown interest in the project, noting that this is a company priority.
“SF Apple Store”by signal11 is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Apple’s development of communications satellites and next-generation wireless technologies means that its goal is likely to be to send data to the user equipment, which may reduce its reliance on wireless operators or connect devices together without traditional networks. It is also possible that Apple is exploring the use of satellites to provide more accurate location tracking for its devices, thereby improving maps and introducing new features. It’s unclear whether Apple intends to build a costly satellite constellation, or will it just use ground equipment to receive data from existing satellites and send it to mobile devices.
An Apple spokesman declined to comment. In recent months, Apple has begun recruiting new software and hardware experts for this team, looking for engineers with experience in designing communications equipment components. Apple also recruited other executives from the aerospace and wireless data transmission fields.
The team is led by former aerospace engineers Michael Trela and John Fenwick. The two helped lead Skybox before the satellite image company Skybox Imaging was sold to Google in 2014. Subsequently, the two led Google’s satellite and spacecraft business until 2017 when they left at the same time to start a new project at Apple.
Via: TechCrunch
