The bone of contention this time would be a satellite network, in the past it was NASA. Musk against Bezos, endless quarrel: after NASA, satellites
Between Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, already in the race with each other for the podium of the richest man on the planet, fly rags. Founder of Amazon, one, creator of the PayPal computer payments system, the other, they are both involved in a bitter battle with legal implications for building rival satellite networks through their respective companies, Amazon and SpaceX.
Because, according to Bezos, Musk is a serial offender
The latest blow was thrown by Jeff Bezos, who tried to describe Elon Musk as a serial offender of the rules before the Federal Communications Commission. It’s a dispute that’s been going on for a while, but this time Amazon sent officials a long list of Musk’s past problems with other regulators. It would be one more attempt to thwart SpaceX as the company burns steps to deploy its broadband satellites.
Jeff Bezos referenced the time Musk complained that the Federal Aviation Administration’s regulatory structure would slow SpaceX’s operations. At the same time, the dossier recounts the firing of officials who tried to keep Musk’s factories closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus within the plants.
Space race: rival satellite networks and contracts with NASA
The dispute over satellites, in particular, dates back to the beginning of the year: SpaceX had in fact proposed a Starlink satellite network upgrade. The SpaceX satellites are more than 1,700, while there are about 100,000 customers who use the Internet services offered by the “constellation”.
In Amazon’s plans there is a network called Kuiper instead, this time with more than 3 thousand satellites, none of which, however, has been sent into orbit for the moment.
The duel between the former CEO of Amazon and SpaceX was also consumed on the exclusive assignment to Space X of the contract for the study and the realization of the Human Landing System (HLS) by NASA.
For the American space agency, Musk’s proposal presented evident advantages, for example those concerning in a specific way the budget requirements: Space X’s project was chosen because it presented lower costs compared to competitors. For Bezos, instead, the assignment took place in an irregular way: among other things, this affair took the form of an open letter.
Giuseppe Giordano