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TAMPA, Fla .– SpaceX has hit back at Amazon for its attempt to block altered plans for a second-generation Starlink constellation, calling it a delay tactic to slow competition.
Amazon said the plans changed should be fired in an Aug. 25 letter to the Federal Communications Commission because they include two configurations for the nearly 30,000 tracking satellites SpaceX has in store for Gen 2.
This doubles the technical efforts facing other operators to examine interference and orbital debris issues, according to Amazon, which is developing plans for a rival broadband mega-constellation through its subsidiary Project Kuiper.
Amazon said requesting more than one configuration also encourages speculative app behavior from future constellation operators.
“The Commission should recognize this delay tactic for what it is – a continuation of the Amazon family of companies’ efforts to prevent competitors from making up for Amazon’s failure to progress on its own,” SpaceX said. in an August 31 letter to the FCC. .
He added: “While SpaceX has deployed more than 1,700 satellites, Amazon has yet to even attempt to address the radio interference and orbital debris issues that need to be addressed before Amazon can deploy its constellation.”
SpaceX said that while the orbital parameters “differ slightly” for its two configurations, neither requires any more spectrum nor does it cause additional interference to other proposed non-geostationary systems.
One of the setups plans to use SpaceX’s heavy spacecraft it is developing to deploy next-generation satellites more quickly. SpaceX has said it prefers this option and described the other, which will continue to use its Falcon 9 rockets, as an alternative.
In July 2020, the FCC authorized Project Kuiper to launch 3,236 satellites as long as it shows how they will solve the problems of radio interference and orbital debris.
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