Elon Musk goads Jeff Bezos on Twitter as their prolonged space spat escalates – GeekWire

The rivalry between SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has surfaced on Twitter. Again. (Musk Photo: TED via YouTube; Bezos Photo: GeekWire / Kevin Lisota)

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has fired a fresh volley of tart tweets at Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and the Blue Origin space venture, in the midst of a regulatory tussle over SpaceXs Starlink satellite constellation and Amazons competing Project Kuiper concept.

And this time, space lasers are involved.

The spark that lit Musks latest flame war came after SpaceX sought the Federal Communications Commissions approval to amend plans for sending up tens of thousands of Starlink satellites to provide global broadband service. The amendment would let SpaceX use its Starship mega-rocket, currently under development, to put its Gen2 satellites into an assortment of orbits.

In response, Amazon urged the FCC to turn back SpaceXs request, saying that the amendment proposes two mutually exclusive configurations for the Starlink constellation and leaves too many details unsettled. And in response to that, SpaceX told the FCC that Amazons filing was only the latest in its continuing efforts to slow down competition.

SpaceX also complained that Amazon was neglecting to resolve the FCCs concerns about Project Kuiper. The FCC gave conditional approval to Amazons plans more than a year ago provided that the Kuiper satellites didnt interfere with previously approved satellite systems, including Starlink. SpaceX noted that Amazon hasnt yet filed documents showing how it planned to avoid interference and ensure safe satellite operations.

More than 1,700 first-generation Starlink satellites have already been launched in accordance with previous FCC approvals, and the internet service is currently in expanded beta testing.

The Starlink spat comes amid the backdrop of legal protests that Bezos other big brainchild, Blue Origin, has filed against NASA for awarding a $2.9 billion lunar lander contract to SpaceX. Because of Blue Origins lawsuit, NASA and SpaceX have suspended work to adapt Starship as the landing system for a crewed mission to the moon, which is currently set for as early as 2024. (That date seems increasingly unlikely, however, and not just because of the lawsuit.)

In todays tweets, Musk touched on the FCC filings as well as the lunar lander dispute, referring to Bezos without mentioning him by name:

Musk also referred to Bezos last week in a Twitter exchange, although he misspelled the billionaires name:

Weve reached out to Amazon and to Blue Origin for any response, but its unlikely that Bezos himself will engage in return fire. The most recent posting to Bezos Twitter account is a year and a half old, and previoustaunts from Musk have failed to get a rise. Nowadays, Bezos prefers to post Instagram updates, one of which said nice things about SpaceX. (Musk swore off Instagram in 2018, but his old account endures as a fan site.)

Meanwhile, the FCC has just posted a new filingin which Amazon seeks the commissions go-ahead to test prototype antennas for Project Kuiper at its labs in Redmond, Wash.

This grant would serve the public interest by enabling Amazon to further enhance and validate the components of the Kuiper System, the company said.

No Kuiper satellites have been sent into orbit yet, but in April, Amazon struck a deal with United Launch Alliance for nine launches that would use ULAs Atlas V rockets.

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Elon Musk goads Jeff Bezos on Twitter as their prolonged space spat escalates - GeekWire