Starlink Ineligible For Nearly $900M In Subsidies, Says FCC: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Says It Is 'Flat-Out Lying'

SpaceX‘s Starlink satellite internet service is not eligible to receive $885.5 million in subsidies, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reiterated on Friday.

What Happened: In 2022, the FCC concluded that it would not offer subsidies to Starlink from its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, alleging that the SpaceX subsidiary failed to demonstrate that it had the technical and financial ability to deploy internet with certain speeds at 642,925 locations in 35 states.

Virginia E-rate consultant Greg Weisiger subsequently filed a petition for reconsideration of the order earlier this year. However, the Wireline Competition Bureau said on Friday that the petition does not provide any new information or evidence of changed circumstances which disputes the agency’s prior decision.

SpaceX CEO Responds: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk slammed the FCC on Saturday and alleged that it is “just flat-out lying.”

“How exactly does SpaceX not have the technical or financial ability to do something that it is already doing?” Musk wrote on X.

How exactly does SpaceX not have the technical or financial ability to do something that it is already doing?

They're just flat-out lying.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 1, 2024

“Starlink is the only high-bandwidth Internet system that covers all of Earth,” Musk said in another post.

Why It Matters: Musk slammed the FCC in December too, alleging that the decision to deny Starlink the subsidies is “extremely unethical and politically partisan.”

Republican FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington also expressed dissent against the FCC’s decision. Carr then alleged that the FCC had added itself to the growing list of administrative agencies taking action against Musk’s businesses following the billionaire’s acquisition of Twitter (now X) on the instructions of President Joe Biden. 

However, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel denied the claims.

“The FCC followed a careful legal, technical and policy review to determine that this applicant had failed to meet its burden to be entitled to nearly $900 million in universal service funds for almost a decade,” she then said.

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