Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos argue over satellites
Starlink. (Photo: rafapress / Shutterstock)
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A public dispute over their respective satellite fleets has broken out between the two richest men in the world, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. The reason is an FCC application from Starlink.
In July, the US agency FCC paved the way for Amazon’s Kuiper satellite internet project. By 2029, 3,200 satellites are to be brought into orbit, Amazon expects ten billion US dollars in costs. Elon Musks SpaceX’s Starlink project is an important step further: a good 1,000 satellites are already orbiting the earth; the website is running in test mode. Now the rivals seem to be getting in each other’s way. A dispute has broken out between Amazon boss Bezos and Musk.
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Starlink wants more satellites closer to earth
The starting point for the public Zoff is an application by Starlink to the FCC to be allowed to operate its satellites in an orbit closer to the earth than planned. The advantage would be that the Starlink Internet would be significantly accelerated due to the shorter distance between the satellite and the receiving station on earth. Specifically, Starlink wants to have a total of 2,800 more satellites orbit in an earth orbit of 550 kilometers. The FCC only allowed 1,500 in this area. The others would have to be twice as far from Earth according to the current FCC approval.
It does not serve the public to hamstring Starlink today for an Amazon satellite system that is at best several years away from operation
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 26, 2021
After the application became known, Amazon accused SpaceX of undermining competition between the satellite Internet systems via the official Twitter account. Such a step is only in the interest of Starlink, not in the public. The reaction from Twitter fan Elon Musk was not long in coming: The SpaceX founder let it be known that it would also not be in the public’s interest if the Amazon satellite system wanted to slow down Starlink now, when it was still several years away removed from a launch.
Amazon: Starlink plans increase interference
In fact, Amazon cleared an important hurdle on the way to a functioning satellite Internet in December, in that the development of compact and, above all, inexpensive terminals was successful; However, Amazon is still faced with the task of building appropriate satellites and bringing them into space. Nevertheless, Amazon insisted on criticizing the Starlink plans once again via an official statement opposite CNBC to be more specific. The Kuiper system was developed to avoid interference with Starlink. However, the planned changes to the Starlink project would increase the risk of collisions and signal interference.
