Microsoft and SpaceX's Starlink partner on global community internet effort

The collaboration will help boost demand for Elon Musk's space company, which has contracts with the Defense Department and NASA.

Microsoft on Tuesday announced a collaboration with SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service to expand connectivity across the world.

It's a sign of the software company's willingness to collaborate with Tesla CEO Elon Musk's family of businesses, as the world's richest person takes Microsoft partner OpenAI to court.

"Through our collaboration with Starlink, Microsoft is combining low-Earth orbit satellite connectivity with community-based deployment models and local ecosystem partnerships," Microsoft's chief sustainability officer, Melanie Nakagawa, wrote in a blog post.