Viasat Warns of Satellite Collisions in Spat With SpaceX

Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Viasat Inc., a rival to its satellite business, are trading barbs before a key Washington regulator, with SpaceX saying that Viasat is the “satellite industry’s lead obstructionist,” and Viasat responding that SpaceX “spins its rhetoric wheel and comes up empty.” The outcome of the spat, which is playing out in dueling filings to the Federal Communications Commission, may impact both the growing market of broadband from orbit as well as the safety of space.

Satellite internet is useful in rural areas where it's too costly to lay fiber optic lines, as well as for providing internet on planes, ships, and recreational vehicles. Viasat provided consumer broadband services to about 590,000 US subscribers last year; Space Exploration Technologies Corp. says it has launched about 2,500 first-generation satellites in its Starlink fleet and serves almost 500,000 subscribers worldwide. The global market could be $30 billion by 2030, compared to $12 billion today, according to Northern Sky Research.