WASHINGTON – Elon Musk’s SpaceX is facing a final test – and some resistance – in its bid to raise nearly $ 1 billion in federal grants for its satellite-based broadband service.
SpaceX, during the waning weeks of the Trump administration, obtained preliminary rights to $ 886 million in government support to provide rural broadband service through Starlink, its low-orbit satellite system on Earth.
The federal government is now planning a final round of exams before betting heavily that Mr. Musk’s technology could help close the persistent gaps in U.S. high-speed Internet service. Most of the $ 9.2 billion subsidized by the Federal Communications Commission went to more established technologies, which included companies laying fiber optic cables.
The FCC requires grants from SpaceX and others to demonstrate their financial and technical resources to build a network, and Friday was the deadline to submit those plans.