Apple Has Secret Team

Working on Satellites to
Beam Data to Devices
The iPhone maker is ramping up hiring, hoping for the initiative
to produce results within five years. 
By 
Mark Gurman
December 20, 2019, 6:00 AM EST

Apple Inc. has a secret team working on satellite technology that the iPhone maker
could use to beam internet services directly to devices, bypassing wireless networks,
according to people familiar with the work.

The Cupertino, California-based iPhone maker has about a dozen engineers from the
aerospace, satellite and antenna design industries working on the project with the goal
of deploying their results within five years, said the people, who asked not to be
identified discussing internal company efforts. Work on the project is still early and
could be abandoned, the people said, and a clear direction and use for satellites hasn’t
been finalized. Still, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has shown interest in
the project, indicating it’s a company priority.

Apple’s work on communications satellites and next-generation wireless technology

means the aim is likely to beam data to a user’s device, potentially mitigating the
dependence on wireless carriers, or for linking devices together without a traditional
network. Apple could also be exploring satellites for more precise location tracking
for its devices, enabling improved maps and new features.

It’s not clear if Apple intends to pursue the costly development of a satellite
constellation itself or simply harness on-the-ground equipment that would take data
from existing satellites and send it to mobile devices. Northrop Grumman Corp.,
Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. are some of the biggest satellite makers. An
Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.
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Amazon.com Inc. plans to deploy more than 3,000 satellites as part of a future
constellation. However, the industry is littered with failures. Iridium LLC filed for
bankruptcy protection in 1999, and Teledesic abandoned its “internet from the sky”
plan more than a decade ago. Newer efforts from Facebook, SpaceX and Amazon are
a long way from generating revenue, and Apple rarely enters new categories without a
clear way to make money.

“The lessons of prior failures like Iridium, Globalstar and Teledesic are that it’s really
hard to find a viable business plan for multibillion-dollar satellite communications
projects,” said Tim Farrar, a satellite expert and principal at TMF associates.

In recent months, Apple has started hiring new software and hardware experts for the
team, seeking engineers with experience in designing components for
communications equipment. The company has also hired additional executives from
the aerospace and wireless data delivery fields.

The team is led by Michael Trela and John Fenwick, former aerospace engineers who
helped lead satellite imaging company Skybox Imaging before it sold to Google in
2014. The pair led Google’s satellite and spacecraft operations until leaving together
in 2017 to begin a new initiative at Apple, Bloomberg News reported at the time.

During their first year and a half at Apple, Trela and Fenwick explored the feasibility
of developing satellite technology and understanding the problem they want to solve,
and in recent months have started intensifying work on the project. The effort suffered
a setback earlier this year when its previous leader, Greg Duffy, left Apple after
joining in 2016. Duffy, the co-founder of camera startup Dropcam, which Google
acquired in 2014, reported to Dan Riccio, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware
engineering.

On his LinkedIn profile, Duffy said he worked on projects involving “satellite

communications, wireless, and home products/technologies.” He declined to comment
more specifically on his work at Apple.

Trela and Fenwick still work within Apple’s hardware engineering division, but now
report to Riccio’s lieutenant in charge of iPhone engineering.
The team has recently added people from the wireless industry, including engineer
Matt Ettus, who now helps lead the initiative, people familiar with the team said. Ettus
is one of the foremost names in wireless technologies and created Ettus Research, a
National Instruments Corp.-owned firm that sells wireless networking equipment.

Apple has also hired Ashley Moore Williams, a longtime executive from Aerospace
Corp. who focused on communication satellites, and Daniel Ellis, a former Netflix
Inc. executive who helped oversee the company’s Content Delivery Network, or
CDN. Ellis has experience in building networks that can beam content and
information on a global scale.

The work on satellite technology is one of several “special projects” -- an Apple term
for skunkworks initiatives or development of major new product categories -- under
way at the company.

As Bloomberg has previously reported, Apple also is working on a virtual reality

headset to debut as early as 2021, augmented reality glasses for launch after
that, MicroLED screens for future devices, new home products, self-driving car
technology and a future Apple Watch that can analyze a user’s blood chemistry to
determine glucose levels. Apple is also expanding its in-house chip development,
seeking to replace Intel Corp. as its Mac processor maker, and Intel and Qualcomm
Inc. as the providers of its modem component for phones.
Under Cook, Apple has rapidly expanded its research and development budget,
spending $16 billion in the 2019 fiscal year, an increase of 14% from the prior year,
according to company filings. One of Apple’s primary goals is to bring more of the
technology behind its products in house, which is what work on satellites could
eventually enable.