Hatred Between Elon Musk & Jeff Bezos Gains Strength
Looking at the harsh comments with FCC, Amazon accused Musk and his companies of using "rules are for other people” in the contract
The professional terms between billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are full of twists and turn as both rivals plan to build satellite networks.
Earlier this year, Musk’s SpaceX proposed an update to its Starlink network, a vast constellation of satellites in low-Earth orbit designed to beam broadband internet to rural areas with little to no internet connections.
SpaceX has over 1,700 satellites in orbit so far, with about 100,000 customers using its internet services in a beta phase.
Last December, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) awarded SpaceX $886 million in subsidies to support rural broadband expansion.
However, the commission has recently challenged some areas in the plan of Starlink service, including major airports and parking lots.
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On the other hand, Amazon is also planning a similar satellite network called Kuiper with more than 3,000 satellites but it hasn’t revealed production plans or launched any satellites to space yet.
Soon after the news went viral, SpaceX and Bezos’s Blue Origin argued over a NASA contract to build and demonstrate a human lander system for a planned return to the moon.
Both Musk’s SpaceX and Bezos’s Kuiper systems are before the FCC with rival satellite constellations in low-earth orbit to provide broadband internet access.
Replying to a SpaceX filing last week, Kuiper attorney C. Andrew Keisner wrote, “Whether it is launching satellites with unlicensed antennas, launching rockets without approval, building an unapproved launch tower, or reopening a factory in violation of a shelter-in-place order, the conduct of SpaceX and other Musk-led companies makes their view plain: rules are for other people, and those who insist upon or even simply request compliance are deserving of derision and ad hominem attacks”.
In response to it, SpaceX said that Amazon’s 8-page “diatribe” was “wholly irrelevant” to topics before the commission.
Moreover, Executive David Goldman asked FCC whether SpaceX has offered adequate information about a “minor” change in the application for its next Starlink satellite configuration.
In the request, SpaceX is asking the agency to allow public comments on its system as a way to speed review of its application.
