The statement followed a tweet from Musk, the richest person according to data collected by Bloomberg.
The two richest men in the world went to the front of American regulators over heavenly real estate for their satellite fleets.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has asked the Federal Communications Commission for permission to operate Starlink communications satellites in a lower orbit than previously planned.
Amazon.com Inc. Jeff Bezos says the move would risk interference and collision with the planned Kuiper satellites, which, like Starlink, are designed to beam Internet services from space.
A dispute that would normally be limited to registration files finds its way into the public eye, in an argument that shows the great personalities involved as billionaires chase dreams in the sky.
“It is the changes proposed by SpaceX that would disrupt competition between satellite systems,” Amazon tweeted from its official news account on Tuesday. “It’s clearly in SpaceX’s best interest to stifle competition if they can, but it’s certainly not in the public’s interest.”
Amazon.com Inc. Jeff Bezos says the move would risk interference and collision with the planned Kuiper satellites, which, like Starlink, are designed to beam Internet services from space.
The statement followed a tweet from Musk, the richest person according to data collected by Bloomberg.
“It’s not good for the public to hoard Starlink today for an Amazon satellite system that is at best several years away from the operation,” Musk said in a tweeted response to reports by CNBC journalist Michael Sheetz.
Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. has launched more than 1,000 satellites for its Starlink internet service and registers early customers in the US, UK and Canada. Amazon received FCC clearance for a fleet of 3,236 satellites last year and has yet to launch one.
Amazon previously urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s request for lower jobs. It said the change would place SpaceX satellites at the center of the Kuiper system’s orbits, according to documents at the agency.
SpaceX opposed the FCC, saying its plans would not create more interference for what it called Amazon’s “budding plans.”
A lower track allows for faster Internet service because the signal does not travel that far. SpaceX told the FCC that having the satellites closer to Earth reduces the risk of space debris, as they would fall out of orbit faster than taller spacecraft.
SpaceX plans to eventually operate some 12,000 satellites and has received FCC authorization for about 4,400 birds, including 1,584 at 350 miles – where the satellites are currently in orbit. The company is requesting permission to stage an additional 2,824 satellites at the same estimated height, instead of twice as high as originally proposed.
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV contributors and was published from a syndicated feed.)