By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) – The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission dismissed criticism from Amazon.com of Elon Musk’s SpaceX plan to launch a constellation of up to 1 million satellites.
“I think Amazon should focus on getting Amazon’s house in order with their own launches and their own satellite constellation, rather than worrying about other people that are actually out there launching satellites at the pace and cadence that SpaceX is,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr told Reuters in an interview.
On Friday, Amazon satellite unit Amazon Leo filed comments with the FCC raising concerns about SpaceX’s plan, suggesting SpaceX was unlikely to deploy all the satellites and that it could take centuries to deploy the satellites.
While it is unlikely SpaceX will put 1 million satellites in space where only 15,000 satellites exist currently, satellite operators sometimes request approval for higher numbers of satellites than they intend to deploy to buy design flexibility.
“Given the pace at which Amazon is launching satellites, I can see why they would think it would take other people centuries to launch,” Carr said. “I don’t anticipate the Amazon filing will get much traction here.”
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Musk’s Starlink network of roughly 10,000 satellites is farthest ahead in a global push to put internet infrastructure in space, where swarms of low-orbiting satellites offer more security and higher connection speeds than traditional, unitary satellites farther out in space.
Starlink, which has more than six million customers across at least 140 countries, targets individual consumers, businesses, governments and, with its Starshield variant, U.S. national security agencies. Amazon Leo, with more than 200 satellites in space so far, has a similar customer strategy.
SpaceX said its constellation of up to 1 million satellites will orbit Earth and harness the sun to power AI data centers.
The FCC approved in January SpaceX’s request to operate an additional 7,500 Gen2 Starlink satellites, saying they will provide direct-to-cell connectivity outside the United States and supplemental U.S. coverage.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Porter)
