SpaceX confirmed Wednesday that it’s leasing Starlink kits and repair to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) totally free however denied any push to take over Verizon’s contract to construct an up to date communications system for the company.
Elon Musk’s area expertise firm mentioned it’s working with L3Harris, the present contractor for the FAA’s telecommunications infrastructure, to check Starlink “as one piece of the infrastructure upgrades so badly needed along with fiber, wireless, and other technologies.”
“Starlink is a possible partial fix to an aging system. There is no effort or intent for Starlink to ‘take over’ any existing contract,” SpaceX mentioned in a put up on the social platform X, which can be owned by Musk.
“Beyond this initial testing deployment, SpaceX is working with L3Harris and the FAA to identify instances where Starlink could serve as a long-term infrastructure upgrade for aviation safety,” it added.
Reviews emerged final week that the FAA was contemplating canceling Verizon’s $2.4 billion contract to revamp the company’s telecommunications system and awarding it to Musk’s Starlink as a substitute.
Musk himself publicly criticized Verizon earlier than realizing it was not chargeable for the present system.
“To be clear right here, the Verizon communication system to air visitors management is breaking down very quickly,” he wrote on X final week. “The FAA assessment is single digit months to catastrophic failure, putting air traveler safety at serious risk.”
He later clarified that “the ancient system that is rapidly declining in capability was made L3Harris.”
The prospect of Starlink taking on the Verizon contract raised battle of curiosity considerations given Musk’s expansive function within the Trump administration, main the Division of Authorities Effectivity’s (DOGE) cost-cutting efforts.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy introduced in early February that the DOGE staff was “going to plug in to help upgrade our aviation system.”
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) pressed the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Monday to convey Musk and appearing FAA chief Chris Rocheleau in to testify about air visitors management expertise within the face of a number of current crashes and near-misses involving airplanes.
“Given Musk’s far-reaching role within the U.S. government and his recent involvement with the FAA’s information technology systems, Musk’s comments could understandably cause panic among air travelers,” Markey wrote in a letter to Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the panel’s chair and rating member.
“Although the FAA’s information technology systems need modernization, Musk’s alarmist rhetoric appears extreme,” he added.
