Elon Musk’s internet satellite business has engendered an unlikely alliance of competitors, regulators and experts who say the billionaire is building an almost monopolistic construction that threatens security and the environment.
The Starlink project, owned by Mr. Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. or SpaceX, is authorized to send about 12,000 satellites into orbit to radiate super-fast internet to every corner of the earth. It asked for permission for another 30,000.
Now competing companies such as Viasat Inc., OneWeb Global Ltd., Hughes Network Systems and Boeing Co. are fighting. the Starlink space race ahead of regulators in the US and Europe. Some complain that Mr. Musk’s satellites blocked signals from their own devices and physically endangered their fleet.
The attempt of mr. Musk is still in beta testing, but it has already disrupted the industry and even spurred the European Union to develop a competitive space-based internet project that will be launched by the end of the year.
The critics’ main argument is that Mr. Musk’s start-first, upgrade-later principle, which made his Tesla Inc. electric car company a pioneer, prioritizes speed over quality and fills the earth already overcrowded with satellites that may need to be repaired after them start.