"If Google is committing money to SpaceX, they are likely to be a major investor and a real partner," said Marco Caceres, director of space studies at consultant Teal Group. "Google brings the applications for the satellites to the table, and SpaceX has the technical know-how and the launch capacity."

"I would say [all-electric is] a growing market, it has good potential, but I don't see it as a booming market in the near term," Marco Caceres, senior analyst and director of space studies at the Teal Group told Via Satellite. "[Hybrid propulsion] is a very transitional way of doing it to see if it works. In the end you may end up going to all electric if the technology improves so that it has enough of a kick to get satellites in orbit faster."

Taking that as a guide, VG would need to be, at least, a $2 billion program. But can any company afford to do private space safely? Marco Caceres, a space-industry analyst at Teal Group, named one contender: SpaceX. Founder Elon Musk's company is positioned for success because it's financing its development with commercial and government clients, not celebrities. "That sort of funding won't come from a few hundred adventure seekers," Caceres says. "It's going to take big-time investment."

"They're getting the reputation for being a pretty gutsy company that's willing to get things done," Marco Caceres, director of space studies with Teal Group, a Fairfax, Virginia-based consultant, said in a Jan. 10 phone interview.

"Overall, I would rate it as a success," Marco Caceres, director of space studies with Teal Group, a Fairfax, Virginia-based consulting firm, said in a phone interview.

"It is tricky to hit something that small to begin with, but to hit with the right velocity so that it lands perfectly when the barge is moving in the ocean -- that's a tough challenge," Caceres said. "They're not taking the easy way. That's not the conservative approach."