There is no doubt that Spacex is the player who has gone the furthest way in plans to achieve a satellite internet solution, but the company has competitors. One of them is the mighty Amazon, and now the battle between the two companies seems to be escalating.
Ars Technica It recently reported that Amazon had asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates communications technology in the United States, to withhold approval of Spacex’s second generation Starlink system.
30,000 satellites
The planned second generation of the Starlink constellation will consist of 30,000 new satellites that together will aim to provide global coverage. The request for this network extension is currently being processed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Amazon believes the plans violate laws that the FCC is responsible for enforcing, and they defend their position in Publicly available document on the FCC’s website.
Spacex’s plans propose two different configurations for the approximately 30,000 satellites in its Gen2 system, each arranging the satellites along very different orbital parameters. Spacex’s new approach to using two mutually exclusive configurations violates both the Commission’s rules and public policy, and we urge the Commission to reject this extension, Amazon’s letter to the FCC states.
Musk with sting to Bezos
Spacex CEO Elon Musk, a tireless Twitter user, leave a message In response to Amazon payment. There it comes with a very small sting to recently resigned Amazon chief Jeff Bezos.
– It turns out that Bezos retired to start a full-time job to sue SpaceX, Musk wrote in the letter.
Musk Aerospace Corporation responded to the indictment In a separate letter to the FCC, where they provide a more comprehensive justification for why they think Amazon is wrong. The letter contains accusations that Amazon is simply seeking to put obstacles in the way of a competitor.
“Unfortunately, Amazon’s latest message is only the latest in its ongoing attempt to stymie competition, while failing to resolve the Commission’s objections to Amazon’s NGSO satellite system (non-stationary orbit, journal.anm.),” the letter said.
In a direct response to Amazon’s view, Spacex claims that none of the configurations will occupy more spectrum, and none will hinder other proposed NGSO systems. The company also claims that both configurations will comply with FCC rules in the same way as the current constellation.
Project Kuiper
Amazon’s investment in a satellite-based internet solution has been named Kuiper It was announced in April 2019. The company’s planned constellation will consist of 3,236 satellites (low Earth orbit), and in July last year, Amazon was able to Announced that the Federal Communications Commission has approved the request.
The online store giant said they would invest ten billion dollars in the project, and they did Went to acquire a separate facility Dedicated to research, development and building prototypes in connection with the satellite Internet project.
According to Amazon, the goal of the plans is to be able to offer broadband services at high speed, low delay, and reasonable prices to consumers, businesses, and other customers. Amazon isn’t specific about who will make up the user base, but says the system should be able to meet the needs of tens of millions of people around the world — that is, not just in the United States.
Kuiper uses a different type of peripheral than Spacex’s Starlink system and Amazon’s itself It claims to have achieved speeds of up to 400 megabits per second In private tests, much higher than Starlink. How it works in practice remains to be seen.
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