Google/Planetary Ventures LLC

[GIThruster]

from Chris Versace's newsletter:

"I appeared on “Money with Melissa Francis” last week on the FOX Business to talk about Google (GOOGL). The search engine company made headlines with news that it’s spending more than $1 billion to lease an old NASA hangar on a historic Navy air base for a 60-year period. More specifically, the Internet search company is leasing a 1,000-acre site that is part of the former Moffett Field Naval Air Station on the San Francisco Peninsula in California.

While Google was rather tight-lipped on the event, more insight was had from the NASA press release that announced a Google subsidiary called Planetary Ventures LLC will use the hangars for “research, development, assembly and testing in the areas of space exploration, aviation, rover/robotics and other emerging technologies.”

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/november ... GzkbCjZkkw

So google is going to be funding space exploration?

[paperburn1]

I think they just want to start cashing in on the military industrial complex.

[ladajo]

Been there, and in the hangar, as a taxpayer, glad someing paid money for it. Way more than it cost to build it even.

More power to Google to push the envelope. However, of note is that very few, if any, companies that lose sight of who they really are survive. Of note is that Apple, while sitting on a silly pile of cash, still focus on being Apple, and the pile of cash continues to grow.

Too bad Google can't seem to toss $30 million at EMC2, especially given the amount of silly money they toss at private jets and whatnot.

[paperburn1]

The return on investment just is not there, conservation is cheaper and saves more money. and if you want to build more data centers build them up north whenever possible and save even more money.
I am sure the number cruncher have already figured this out.
But we can always hope, they gave out 40 mil in grants last year.

[Skipjack]

Both google and recently also Elon Musk have toyed with the idea of large LEO satellite constellations for broadband access. Musk made the headline with a 700 satellite strong constellation in very low earth orbit (to reduce lag). I would assume that this is what Google is looking into as well (though I heard that their constellation would be smaller).

[GIThruster]

Nah. It's just the Google boys want somewhere to keep their jet planes. Moffet is adjacent to the Google campus in Mountain View. I think they have 8 jets there now. It's a convenience.