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Elon Musk’s Starlink takes the fight to Dish Network over broadband concerns
Elon Musk’s Starlink and Dish Network are currently butting heads at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over the latter’s attempt to block an essential designation that SpaceX needs to get FCC broadband funding. Dish filed a petition against Starlink in late February, and a few days ago, SpaceX issued its response.
The dispute between the two companies is related to a number of FCC proceedings, including a petition from Starlink seeking designation as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) under the Communications Act. This designation is required in some states where SpaceX won funding to deploy its satellite-based internet to 642,925 underserved homes and businesses in 35 states. Dish Network, for its part, has asked the FCC to deny the private space firm the needed status in the 12 GHz band.
What’s interesting is that Dish is a satellite TV provider, which means that it is not even a direct competitor to SpaceX’s Starlink service. Dish is building a 5G mobile broadband network that could eventually use spectrum from the 12 GHz band that the company currently uses for its satellite TV services. Thus, Dish notes that if SpaceX also uses 12 GHz frequencies, Starlink could result in interference.
“Dish does not object to ETC status for SpaceX based on its access to other frequency bands. But, to the extent that the requested ETC designation is based on the 12 GHz band, it should be denied or deferred, pending the resolution of the DBS interference concerns arising in that band from SpaceX’s proposed modification of its satellite system, and the sharing questions presented in the Commission’s recently initiated 12 GHz rulemaking,” Dish wrote.
SpaceX’s response to Dish’s request to the FCC was equally sharp, noting that the satellite TV provider’s opposition is without merit. The Elon Musk-led firm noted that Dish’s efforts would only result in delaying what really matters most for Starlink–providing high-speed internet access to those who need it the most.
“Dish’s Opposition ignores and conflicts with the Commission’s clear decision to permit applicants for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (“RDOF”) Phase I auction to rely on spectrum in the 12.2-12.7 GHz band (“12 GHz band”) to meet their RDOF obligations. This facially spurious filing is only the latest example of DISH’s abuse of Commission resources in its misguided effort to expropriate the 12 GHz band. The Commission should reject Dish’s Opposition as a baseless attempt to obstruct the ETC and RDOF processes, the result of which would serve only to delay what matters most—connecting unserved Americans,” SpaceX noted.
The private space enterprise also noted that Dish’s arguments reveal a goal to obstruct and hamstring a competitor, especially since the FCC had already decided to let ISPs utilize the 12 GHz band for subsidized broadband connections. “DISH’s argument now that its opposition to the modification somehow renders those Commission decisions meaningless is nonsensical,” SpaceX wrote.
Read Dish’s FCC filing against Starlink below.
(as Filed) DISH Opposition to SpaceX ETC Designation by Simon Alvarez on Scribd
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SpaceX’s response to Dish’s FCC request could be accessed below.
Reply to DISH Opposition to ETC (03!01!2021) by Simon Alvarez on Scribd
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SpaceX just picked up another $1.6 billion from the Pentagon, with the U.S. Space Force awarding two task orders worth $1.6 billion to fly 18 Falcon 9 missions from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California through the end of 2027. The launches will carry satellites for the Space Based Sensing and Targeting portfolio, a set of programs meant to help the military detect and track airborne threats and relay that information across forces in near real time.
The award falls under National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 1, the Space Force’s faster, commercial style procurement track for missions that do not require the military’s most demanding certification process. It is also the largest single order publicly disclosed under that program so far, and the first task order issued since the Space Force nearly tripled Lane 1’s contract ceiling from $5.6 billion to $17 billion on July 17.
SpaceX to become America’s Military data backbone for missiles, drones, and warfighters
Eric Zarybnisky, the Space Force’s acting portfolio acquisition executive for space access, said the entire process, from identifying the requirement to signing the contract, took about two months, including a month set aside for companies to prepare proposals.
SpaceX is not just launching these satellites. It already holds the contracts to build two of the programs within the same portfolio, $4.16 billion for the Space Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator system and $2.29 billion for the Space Data Network Backbone, which Teslarati covered in May. That means SpaceX is now responsible for both building key pieces of the military’s next generation sensing network and getting them into orbit.
With this latest award, SpaceX’s Pentagon contract total for 2026 alone tops $8 billion, adding to a defense portfolio that already includes the Golden Dome missile defense software group SpaceX joined in April and a string of GPS launches it inherited after ULA’s Vulcan rocket ran into a booster anomaly, which we detailed in March.
Lane 1’s vendor pool technically includes seven companies: SpaceX, ULA, Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, Stoke Space, Impulse Space, and Relativity Space. In practice, SpaceX remains the only provider with the combination of launch cadence, flight proven Falcon 9 hardware, and West Coast infrastructure to support a campaign requiring roughly one Vandenberg launch a month for the next year and a half.
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Some lawmakers have flagged the growing concentration of national security launches with one company as a risk worth watching. For now, the Space Force keeps backing SpaceX, with it being the company that shows up ready to launch.
Elon Musk shed two new bits of detail on Starship following its 13th test launch, which was an overwhelming success.
SpaceX launched Starship for the 13th time last Friday after two delays: one on Monday when several Raptor engines did not ignite, and another on Thursday due to unfavorable weather conditions in Starbase, Texas.
The launch was overwhelmingly successful. SpaceX was able to complete a necessary test of the heat shield tiles by increasing the acceleration of Starship from launch throughout the flight; 20 Starlink v3 satellites were released with no issue; the Super Heavy Booster landed safely in the Gulf of America, Ship successfully reignited engines while in space; and it also splashed down without incident in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before
Nevertheless, more details are coming out about Starship, and Musk is doing the talking.
Starship Will Be Retrieved in the Ocean
Musk revealed on Tuesday night that Starship would be recovered by a ship in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX routinely tries to recover Starship after splashdown in an effort to find out more about the flight by examining the spacecraft afterward.
We’re sending a ship out to recover Starship https://t.co/fUqUZTITO9
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 28, 2026
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This helps engineers find out more about why things might have happened, allows them to examine any potential damage or anomalies that might have occurred, and increases the chances of an even more successful flight next time thanks to the additional information recovered.
Ship Could Have Been Caught by Tower Arms, Musk claims
Musk has already indicated that SpaceX will plan to attempt a catch of Starship with the 14th test flight. While this would be a major accomplishment, it would be an expected next step, considering the fact that the Super Heavy Booster has already been caught by the chopsticks on numerous occasions.
The ship landing was precise, meaning that it would have been caught by the tower arms https://t.co/6nbNrRfX9P
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2026
A ship catch would be a great indication of where SpaceX stands in terms of reusability and launch cadence. A successful catch with relatively no incidents would be a good sign that SpaceX is nearing a more frequent launch of Starship, but also that the reusability of the massive rocket would be something many would expect in the near future.
It is a necessity to make life multiplanetary.
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Elon Musk has updated his timeline for when humans will walk on Mars and for when ships will simply get there.
The objective of getting to Mars has been one of Musk’s biggest goals since becoming a serial entrepreneur and realizing that time on Earth is limited. Musk has said several times he hopes to die on Mars, and not by impact.
Musk now believes that people will be on Mars in “roughly 5 to 7 years.” He said that a Mars lander will get there “a few years sooner.”
People on Mars in roughly 5 to 7 years.
Mars lander a few years sooner.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2026
The response from Musk comes after NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said that SpaceX’s biggest priority is the Moon and not Mars. Because of this, Isaacman conceded that he believes nuclear power and propulsion investments will provide “potentially the pathway with the fewest miracles required to put four people on Mars in the next 10 to 15 years.”
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Of course, this is what NASA can do through taxpayer funding and nuclear investments, he added.
Musk’s grand ambitions are much more optimistic than most, and it is certainly a double-edged sword. This is not the first time timelines for Mars have been somewhat lofty, especially to those normal thinkers like you and me, not super geniuses like Musk.
In fact, the SpaceX and Tesla frontman has said on at least a dozen occasions that we could be on Mars in the coming years. Musk said 2020 would be the big year as early as 2009. In 2020, he was “highly confident” of a landing in 2026, and had even said 2024 in a best-case scenario.
The point is, the range has varied, and it’s anyone’s guess when we’ll get there. This latest adjustment to the timeline is typical of Musk, and while the Moon has seemingly taken priority over Mars, it is still worth mentioning that the ultimate goal is to make life multiplanetary, and it starts potentially with the Red Planet.
SpaceX scores another massive Pentagon deal to support military satellites
Elon Musk sheds two new bits of detail on Starship after 13th test launch
