The push to get broadband internet out to rural American towns is starting to pick up steam, but as it does, a battle is brewing over whether that internet should come from space. The original idea had more of a focus on fiber optic cables, but changing political and economic winds have started to favor satellite constellations instead. But that shift isn't simple, and it's starting to look like states might try to resist it. So in return, SpaceX is suing. Welcome to America, 2025.
This all stems from a law passed during the Biden administration, called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which in turn funded the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Each state could get access to federal BEAD funding in order to build out internet access in underserved areas, mostly smaller towns far removed from the big cities. To do that, the state needed to identify which exact areas were underserved and then submit a proposal for how to get them fast internet.
Those proposals are only just rolling in, and yet right as they did, the federal government snatched it all away. There's a new administration in town, and it's laying down new rules, which meant all the proposals have to be redone. Among the changes are a pivot to tech neutrality and prioritizing cost over everything else. "Tech neutrality" here means that the original plan was to bias towards fiber (which provides fast, reliable service), but now states must consider all possible infrastructure. Translation: satellites. Guess who that means?
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SpaceX Vs The Earth
Yes, SpaceX is claiming that its Starlink internet service, provided via a massive constellation of small satellites, would be a much cheaper option than fiber. This just so happens to perfectly align with both the "tech neutrality" and the "cost prioritization" changes from the Trump administration, which CEO Elon Musk was once a semi-official member of.
There's only one problem: the final proposals started rolling in this summer, and as PC Magazine lays out, most of them are still going with a major fiber rollout. Even Colorado, which is putting a heavy emphasis on satellites, would rather go with something that doesn't exist than Starlink: Amazon's Project Kuiper constellation, which isn't in service yet. (Kuiper satellites, by the way, are being put into orbit... on SpaceX rockets.)
What to do when the market doesn't seem to want your product? Write an angry letter! In fact, write several, as SpaceX has filed epistles against both Louisiana and Virginia, arguing that these states haven't followed the rules, per PC Magazine again. SpaceX's argument is that fiber is wasteful, since it's more expensive. Apparently, the only way to not waste taxpayer dollars is to use Starlink. For reference, SpaceX is also filing letters with the South African government, also increasing Starlink access to rural areas. This is becoming a theme.
There's Not Enough Satellites...
Once the satellites are in space, they are relatively cheap to run. The problem, however, is that these massive constellations aren't actually all that massive yet. Project Kuiper has a grand total of 102 satellites in orbit, all of them since April. To launch internet service, Amazon says it wants 3,200 first. Starlink, meanwhile, currently has several thousand but wants to get all the way up to 42,000. In other words, these services are nowhere near fully built out.
That means that demand is vastly outstripping supply at the moment. In the Pacific Northwest, Starlink is hitting people with a $1,000 "demand surcharge" fee in an attempt to slow down subscriber growth. Teething pains maybe, but not exactly something you'd want to hang publicly funded internet infrastructure on. Especially since one of the Trump administration's changes was to deregulate service prices, meaning the internet providers no longer will be compelled to provide a cheap option.
...and Also, There's Too Many Satellites
All the while, low-Earth orbit (LEO) is getting mighty congested these days. The European Space Agency published a report last year describing the current state of satellites and debris, and they concluded that things are already getting pretty bad: "the collective behaviour of space-faring entities (private companies and national agencies) is unsustainable in the long term."
The ESA provided the chart above, showing the total number of objects launched into LEO each year. As you can see, the numbers have, well, skyrocketed. You can also see that the vast bulk of them (79%) are communications satellites; these are the constellations getting put into orbit. Starlink is already doing so, Project Kuiper started this year, and China has their own designs. Expect more companies and countries to follow suit. "Earth's orbital environment is a finite resource," says the ESA, and we're running out.
Given all of that, is it any wonder that most states seem to want to use BEAD funding for fiber optic cables, rather than constellations? Especially in the short term, that seems like a more dependable option. But SpaceX, in America and elsewhere, will keep working the refs to get more and more areas on its service; other companies, like Amazon, may coast off its efforts. The future of digital life on Earth may be decided by what happens in space.
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