Microsoft partners with SpaceX to connect Azure cloud to Starlink
cnbc.com
cnbc.com
You can still to sat to ground to sat and that can also be quite useful, but does not work across large bodies of water.
Starlink might be the cash cow that can get SpaceX to Mars. And the great thing is, with Starlink the Starship is not really an unnecessarly big rocket anymore. It actually makes a lot of sense to deploy 400+ sats in one shot.
If you can deploy 400+ sats in one rocket launch, you only need a total 105 launches to set up the whole 42000 sat constellation. That means only 21 launches per year if you assume a replacement rate of 5 years, something that is well within capability of even current operations. That said, I think depending on technological development speed, going to a refueling of the sats might be an option eventually.
This base capability and cashflow will allow SpaceX to continue development on the Starship and help build up the infrastructure needed for other uses of Starship. Mars and Earth Point-to-Point transportation are the real challenging projects SpaceX is attempting.
Also, here is a short interview about this with Gwynne Shotwell , President and COO of SpaceX (doesn't add much...). [2]
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX#Ownership,_funding,_and...
Microsoft is partnering with SpaceX to connect the Azure cloud computing network to the growing Starlink satellite internet service offered by Elon Musk’s company.
The partnership comes as Microsoft expands into the space industry, with the company a few weeks ago unveiling a new service called Azure Orbital to connect satellites directly to the cloud.
Azure Space and the new partnership sets up Microsoft and SpaceX to compete further with Jeff Bezos’ businesses Amazon and Blue Origin, which have announced plans for similar satellite services and more.