FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel says it’s time for new players to step up and compete against SpaceX’s Starlink, alluding to the satellite internet system as an emerging monopoly. “The one thing that’s clear to me as the head of the Federal Communications Commission is that every communications market that has competition is stronger,” she said during a talk at the US Chamber of Commerce’s Global Aerospace Summit in Washington, D.C. Rosenworcel was asked her thoughts about promoting competition in the satellite industry in light of tensions between SpaceX’s Starlink business and new rivals such as Verizon, which is preparing to launch its own cellular satellite services. In response, Rosenworcel said more competition is necessary, pointing to the economic benefits. “We see lower prices and more innovation, and honestly, space should be no exception,” she said during the conference, which was also live streamed.
(Photo by John Keeble/Getty Images)
The FCC chair then focused on SpaceX. Although she didn’t name the company directly, Rosenworcel did mention its growing dominance in the rocket and satellite industry.“We do have one player that’s got almost two thirds of the satellites in space right now and has a very high portion of internet traffic. And the way I see it is our economy doesn’t benefit from monopolies, so we’ve got to invite many more space actors in and many more companies that can develop constellations and innovations in space,” she said. Her comments come a week after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted about his company’s dominance in satellite communications. “Starlink now constitutes roughly 2/3 of all active Earth satellites,” Musk wrote after SpaceX crossed the threshold of sending 7,000 Starlink satellites into space. Days earlier, Musk also predicted that Starlink will “probably deliver over 90% of all space-based Internet traffic next year.”
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The technology has helped SpaceX bring high-speed internet to millions of users in rural and remote areas, where access to reliable broadband has sometimes been nonexistent. But according to Rosenworcel, the US also needs to “embrace the idea of having many more actors in low-Earth orbit,” citing the competitive benefits.
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“We are open to that competition because we know it’s going to bring innovation and we’ll work with our democratic allies to help them succeed,” she said when asked about how Taiwan is also developing its own alternative to Starlink. To encourage the competition, Rosenworcel said the FCC — which oversees radio spectrum for US satellites— created the Space Bureau last year to essentially invite new players into the market. “We recognize a lot of the new companies working in space, they’re not familiar with processes of the Federal Communications Commission,” she said. “Satellite systems are something they want to invest in, but we’ve got to start doing a lot of outreach.”In the meantime, Amazon’s Project Kuiper is trying to compete with Starlink using its own fleet of low-Earth orbiting satellites. But the company isn’t scheduled to launch its first production satellites until this year’s Q4, putting it far behind Starlink. Another emerging competitor is AST SpaceMobile, a Texas-based startup that’s received investment from AT&T, Verizon, and Google. The startup’s focus is on beaming high-speed satellite communications to phones, rather than powering home internet. Tomorrow, AST SpaceMobile plans on launching its first production satellites into orbit, with beta tests to come as soon as this December. Meanwhile, SpaceX is working to offer its own cellular Starlink system for T-Mobile phones later this fall.
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About Michael Kan
Senior Reporter
I’ve been working as a journalist for over 15 years—I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017.
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