- Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos ‘Amazon burst out into the open on social media.
- Musk, Bezos are racing to develop massive broadband satellite networks.
- Astronomy organizations sounded alarms over the brightness of the satellites in the night sky.
After brewing for months in meetings with regulators, the satellite rivalry between Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos ‘Amazon burst out into the open on social media this week. It’s just the latest spat in a modern billionaire race for a $1 trillion telecommunications slice of the market. The two wealthiest people in the world, Musk, and Bezos are racing to develop massive low-Earth orbit satellite networks capable of providing high-speed broadband internet to remote areas of the world with little or no access to the internet. For its Starlink network, SpaceX has 955 satellites in orbit and aims to launch thousands more, while Amazon’s Kuiper System is still in earlier development phases without any satellites in orbit.
The quarrel focuses on the filing last summer when SpaceX asked officials from the Federal Communications Commission for permission to adjust several Starlink satellites to altitudes between 540 and 570 km, similar to the planned constellation of Amazon, which will orbit Earth at an altitude of about 590 km. SpaceX says the tweak will make it simpler without triggering spectrum interference to de-orbit old satellites.
The Public Finger-Pointing
For a sort of business rivalry normally limited to the obscure corners of FCC filing databases. But, public finger-pointing was an unprecedented escalation. Bezos and Musk’s foray into the world of satellites has created new enthusiasm and turmoil for many incumbent players. These include SES, Viasat, and Intelsat, among others. In order to spend a total of $10 billion in Starlink, SpaceX has floated the opportunity for investors to break the program into a separate entity sometime in the future and file an IPO. Also, Musk’s star power at the forefront of another public corporation that is potentially disruptive. Bezos has also vowed to invest $10 billion in Kuiper despite falling far behind SpaceX. Thus, cementing its attempt to compete with both SpaceX and existing satellite internet firms.
Approximately 12,000 required for continuous global coverage under the Starlink program. SpaceX has lofted over 1,000 satellites to orbit since its first Starlink launch in 2019. Musk is working to provide commercial service and begin generating revenue to finance SpaceX’s Mars rocket, Starship. He has supercharged the deployment speed. In 2018, he grew furious and fired seven Starlink managers, including the top designer of the program and SpaceX’s VP of satellites, when production was going too slow for Musk’s style. These two managers now lead the Kuiper Project at Amazon.
SpaceX’s Starlink Program
SpaceX started an invite-only beta program last year that now has thousands of users across the US, Canada, and the UK. The initial price for a setup package that includes a pizza-sized dish is pegged at $99 a month, plus $499. The constellation of Amazon promises a network of 3,236 orbiting low-Earth satellites. Last month, the online shopping giant unveiled the concept for a phased array antenna that can provide up to 400 Mbps maximum throughput. Nevertheless, Amazon is one of a handful of organizations that have been pushing back for months on SpaceX’s fast Starlink deployment campaign.
Amazon Opposing SpaceX’s Starlink Objective
Last year, satellite broadband company Viasat joined Amazon is asking the FCC to reject SpaceX’s proposal to move almost 3,000 Starlink satellites to a lower orbit, saying that the Starlink system poses “an unreasonable threat to the continued use of the shared orbital environment.” In December, the company increased its request, calling on the FCC to perform a Starlink environmental assessment. The rush of SpaceX to develop and invest in its constellation could make controlling it more difficult for the FCC.
Astronomy organizations have sounded alarms over the brightness of the satellites in the night sky. SpaceX has started launching its Starlink satellites in batches of 60 atop its Falcon 9 rocket. The long-exposure telescopic photographs of the cosmos from Earth are now often tainted by ugly light streaks. They are created by the passing bright satellites. A bigger business concern is that SpaceX is planting its flag in prime orbital real estate. It’s high enough that you don’t have to constantly reboot the orbit and use a lot of fuel. And, low enough that it will automatically reenter the Earth’s atmosphere if things go wrong.
