ARS Technica by Eric Berger – Mar 11, 2026
It is fairly common for satellite companies to verbally spar over constellations, battling over territory such as preferred orbits and the electromagnetic spectrum for data transmission. The venue for such disputes is often the Federal Communications Commission, which has regulatory authority over satellite communications.
Everyone pretty much fights with everyone, but of late, the exchanges between SpaceX and Amazon have turned a bit nasty. And on Wednesday, the FCC chairman weighed in against Amazon.
Amazon and SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, have sparred for years before the FCC when it comes to megaconstellations.
SpaceX has launched more than 9,000 satellites for its Starlink constellation, and Amazon began launching satellites for its Amazon LEO constellation last year, with about 200 in orbit now. Both of these broadband constellations aim to serve a mix of business and commercial customers. In January, Bezos’ Blue Origin announced plans for another internet constellation, TeraWave, to serve enterprise customers.
In addition to parrying with SpaceX over its proposed, vastly larger orbital data center constellation, Amazon is seeking some regulatory relief of its own. Most pressing for Amazon is a deadline to deploy half of its Amazon Leo constellation, intended to ultimately comprise 3,236 satellites, by July 30. The company will not meet this deadline, with only a little more than three months to go, and Amazon has requested an extension, asking for it to be moved to July 30, 2028.
More:
https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/03/fcc-chair-blasts-amazon-after-it-criticizes-spacex-megaconstellation/
