Virgin Galactic and Qualcomm are partnering on a new investment to bring "the world's largest ever satellite constellation" into orbit within the next year.

Some 648 small satellites will be launched into low-orbit, working to bring phone and broadband communications to those in undeveloped countries.

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It is part of a much larger effort to bring internet and telecommunications into the poorest of areas, incapable of paying for the infrastructure for broadband or mobile cellular networks.

Virgin Galactic's Launcher One will play a critical part in sending the satellites into orbit, allowing the satellites to drift from 51,000 feet where it is launched.

The news comes just a few months after Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo crash, killing one pilot and forcing the company to rethink the program. Sir Richard Branson has said all safety precautions had been taken, but did show some unease at the crash.

This new satellite development allows Virgin Galactic to work on even more potential space markets, already involved with NASA space missions and space tourism.

Virgin Galactic is not the only space company working on low-orbit satellites for undeveloped nations, both Google and Space X are working on similar satellite services, but currently Virgin's is the largest.

Facebook is also working on ways to bring internet to undeveloped nations, and could also be investing in its own satellite company.

Google and Facebook may push internet in the regions for cheap, pushing their own services to make up for the investment. For space companies, it seems like the return on investment would come from the revenue made on new customers, meaning they may have to charge more for the service.

TagsVirgin Galactic, Qualcomm, Space X, Satellite