{"id":17502,"date":"2021-09-01T20:07:24","date_gmt":"2021-09-01T12:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/elon-musk-goads-jeff-bezos-on-twitter-as-their-prolonged-space-spat-escalates\/"},"modified":"2021-09-01T20:07:24","modified_gmt":"2021-09-01T12:07:24","slug":"elon-musk-goads-jeff-bezos-on-twitter-as-their-prolonged-space-spat-escalates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/elon-musk-goads-jeff-bezos-on-twitter-as-their-prolonged-space-spat-escalates\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk goads Jeff Bezos on Twitter as their prolonged space spat escalates"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Musk
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)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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 SpaceX\u2019s Starlink satellite constellation and Amazon\u2019s competing Project Kuiper concept.<\/p>\n

And this time, space lasers are involved.<\/p>\n

The spark that lit Musk\u2019s latest flame war came after SpaceX sought the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

In response, Amazon urged the FCC to turn back SpaceX\u2019s request, saying that the amendment proposes \u201ctwo mutually exclusive configurations\u201d for the Starlink constellation and leaves too many details unsettled. And in response to that<\/em>, SpaceX told the FCC that Amazon\u2019s filing was \u201conly the latest in its continuing efforts to slow down competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

SpaceX also complained that Amazon was neglecting to resolve the FCC\u2019s concerns about Project Kuiper. The FCC gave conditional approval to Amazon\u2019s plans more than a year ago \u2014 provided that the Kuiper satellites didn\u2019t interfere with previously approved satellite systems, including Starlink. SpaceX noted that Amazon hasn\u2019t yet filed documents showing how it planned to avoid interference and ensure safe satellite operations.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Starlink spat comes amid the backdrop of legal protests that Bezos\u2019 other big brainchild, Blue Origin, has filed against NASA for awarding a $2.9 billion lunar lander contract to SpaceX. Because of Blue Origin\u2019s 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.)<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s tweets, Musk touched on the FCC filings as well as the lunar lander dispute, referring to Bezos without mentioning him by name:<\/p>\n