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| Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company has also developed other technologies, such as Aquila, to provide internet connectivity. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images |
The Facebook CEO said he was ‘deeply disappointed’ in explosion of Falcon 9 rocket carrying satellite intended to provide internet coverage to parts of Africa
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg struck a bitter tone in his response to the explosion of the SpaceX rocket carrying a satellite intended for use on his Internet.org project in Africa.
Writing on his Facebook page, Zuckerberg said: “As I’m here in Africa, I’m deeply disappointed to hear that SpaceX’s launch failure destroyed our satellite that would have provided connectivity to so many entrepreneurs and everyone else across the continent.”
The accidental explosion of the Falcon 9 rocket early on Thursday morning – referred to as an “anomaly” by SpaceX engineers – destroyed both the rocket and its cargo: the AMOS-6 satellite, which Facebook had planned to deploy to provide internet coverage to parts of Africa.
“Fortunately, we have developed other technologies like Aquila that will connect people as well,” Zuckerberg added. “We remain committed to our mission of connecting everyone, and we will keep working until everyone has the opportunities this satellite would have provided.”
Contrary to Zuckerberg’s description, the satellite did not belong to Facebook. In October 2015, Facebook partnered with Eutelsat, a French satellite company, to lease the broadband capability of the AMOS-6, which was built by Israeli company Spacecom.
According to Space News, which reviewed Spacecom filings with the Tel Aviv stock exchange, the joint lease cost $95m over five years and included a provision requiring Spacecom to purchase an insurance policy specifically covering Facebook and Eutelsat’s risks, in addition to its own insurance. Space News also reported that both Facebook and Eutelsat would each have additional insurance policies for the satellite.
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SpaceX did not immediately respond to a query about its own insurance policies.
The tone of Zuckerberg’s response to the explosion was immediately interpreted by many as a sign of a grudge against SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
The two billionaires cut markedly different swathes through Silicon Valley. In recent years, Zuckerberg has appeared intent on projecting an image of a philanthropist concerned with connecting the earth’s citizens.
Musk is better known for his eccentric pronouncements and preoccupation with technological moonshots.
The loss of the satellite is just the latest setback for Zuckerberg’s Internet.org, which aims to expand internet access across the globe. The program has long courted controversy by communities who view the free services on offer as a possible Trojan horse for Facebook’s business interests.
In February, India’s telecom authority banned Facebook’s Free Basics – a service that provided free mobile internet access to select web services – because it violated net neutrality. Board member Marc Andreessen subsequently embarrassed the company in a series of tweets that appeared to suggest he believed India was better off under British colonial rule.
Source: The Guardian
Joined Stellar Hub as an editor in the summer of 2016.
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