Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos stir up space travel. Now Musk complains bitterly about Bezos’ actions against SpaceX. The background is an older conflict.
Hawthorne / Kent – Since several billionaires have been romping around in space travel *, the industry has not gotten boring beyond the actual space missions. This is mainly due to Elon Musk * and Jeff Bezos, whose space companies are currently getting in each other’s way in several areas – which repeatedly causes arguments and squabbles. The latest example is about the emerging area of the Internet from space. Elon Musk’s company SpaceX * has already launched more than 1,700 Starlink satellites * into orbit. The satellite constellation is in beta testing with paying customers, and more satellites are due to be launched soon. The “Project Kuiper” from Amazon, which also wants to send a satellite constellation into space in order to offer high-speed Internet, does not yet have a single satellite in orbit.
But that doesn’t stop Amazon – the company that Jeff Bezos founded and with which he became the richest person in the world – from doing everything to “slow down the competition”, as a SpaceX statement put it. The dispute is sparked by a request from SpaceX to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates the “satellite communication channel” in the USA and has to approve the orbits in which satellites such as the “Starlinks” orbit the earth. SpaceX had revised a previously submitted application for the second generation of the “Starlink” satellites * – against which Amazon had appealed.
Space travel: Elon Musk (SpaceX) and Jeff Bezos (Amazon, Blue Origin) fight each other
The reason given by Amazon: SpaceX has applied for two different satellite configurations. This doubles the technical efforts for other satellite operators to keep an eye on the satellites in order to avoid problems. SpaceX doesn’t like that at all: “The Commission should recognize this delaying tactic for what it is – a continuation of the Amazon family’s efforts to prevent competitors from compensating for Amazon’s lack of progress,” SpaceX said in a response to the FCC.
| Elon Musk | Jeff Bezos |
|---|---|
| born: June 28, 1971, Pretoria (South Africa) | born: January 12, 1964, Albuquerque (USA) |
| Net worth: $ 191 billion | Net worth: $ 199.7 billion |
| Companies: Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, Boring Company | Companies: Amazon, Blue Origin, Washington Post |
On Twitter, SpaceX founder Elon Musk does not hold back with his opinion: “Complaining against SpaceX is actually his full-time job,” writes Elon Musk in relation to Jeff Bezos. And in another tweet: “It turned out that Bezos was retiring * to pursue a full-time job and to file lawsuits against SpaceX.” go bigger: around the moon. This is also suggested by another tweet from Musk. “He [Bezos, editor’s note. Ed.] Should consider spending some money on real Mondlander hardware instead of dodgy lobbyists, “Musk tweeted in response to an article about a lobbying firm hired by Blue Origin.
SpaceX and Blue Origin: Actually, it’s about a lucrative NASA contract
SpaceX and Blue Origin – Jeff Bezos’ space company – are fighting for a large and prestigious contract from the US space organization Nasa *. It’s about who is building the lunar module for the USA * to return to the moon. SpaceX and Blue Origin had applied for the contract, SpaceX alone was awarded the contract * for the $ 2.89 billion contract. Blue Origin lodged an objection with the US audit office and failed *. Jeff Bezos’ company is now suing the NASA decision *, while SpaceX’s work on the project has been suspended.
Space newsletter
There is always a lot going on in astronomy * and space travel – the free space newsletter keeps you up to date.
While SpaceX and company founder Elon Musk are publicly angry that there are lawsuits against SpaceX, it is worth taking a look back into the history of SpaceX – which could not do without large and strategic lawsuits. In 2014, for example, SpaceX sued the Air Force in order to even attempt to win lucrative contracts from the US military. SpaceX also took legal action against the merger of Boeing and Lockheed Martin in the rocket start-up United Launch Alliance (ULA) – because the then still young company saw that it had little chance against the big companies in the market in the fight for government contracts . SpaceX is now a top dog itself with NASA orders for astronautical and robotic missions to the International Space Station ISS * as well as numerous private customers. (Tanja Banner) * fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
