Conflict of interest: FAA tests SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is testing the Starlink satellite internet service from US aerospace company SpaceX. The authority wants to use it to improve its communication system. Experts see a conflict of interest here with the various roles of SpaceX boss Elon Musk.

Bloomberg first reported that the FAA is testing Starlink. Insiders told the US news agency that the agency intends to purchase up to 4,000 Starlink terminals over the next 12 to 18 months. The size of the order is not known.

Problems in Alaska

In the US state of Alaska, there have been "long-standing problems with reliable weather information for aviation", the FAA later wrote in a post on the social media platform X. The agency is therefore considering the use of Starlink to improve reliability in remote locations such as Alaska. Initially, the FAA wants to test one terminal at its location in Atlantic City in the US state of New Jersey and two in Alaska.

It is undisputed that the FAA's communications infrastructure is outdated and needs to be improved. In 2023, the telecommunications group Verizon Communications was entrusted with the task. The contract is worth 2 billion US dollars. The FAA emphasized that it had already considered using Starlink when President Joe Biden's administration was still in office.

It is unclear what will happen with the Verizon contract. Musk has already taken a swipe at the telecommunications company: Its service does not work and therefore endangers airline passengers, he wrote on his platform X.

Critics see conflicts of interest

Experts see conflicts of interest in the situation: as SpaceX CEO, Musk does business with official US agencies such as the space agency NASA, for which SpaceX flies to the International Space Station. The FAA is responsible for overseeing space activities, which SpaceX is also involved in, for example when investigating the explosion of a Starship.

Musk also has a role under the new US administration that provides him with access to confidential government information. The Department of Government Efficiency ("DOGE"), which he heads, is tasked with reviewing government spending and cutting unnecessary expenditure. DOGE is also supposed to deal with the FAA.

Transparency is very limited, Jessica Tillipman, an expert in contract law at George Washington University, told the US news agency Associated Press (AP). "Without transparency, we have no idea how much non-public information [Musk] has access to or what role he plays in awarding contracts."

(wpl)