A Feb. 11th New York Times article missed a sizeable subsidy from the Federal Communications Commission that will add millions of dollars more to subsidies flowing to Elon Musk’s commercial ventures. See (Elon Musk’s Business Empire Scores Benefits Under Trump Shake-Up; https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/us/politics/elon-musk-companies-conflicts.html.
Under new
leadership, the FCC will reverse a prior determination that Starlink, does
qualify for universal service funding, because the low earth orbiting network
has substantially higher cost of service compared to terrestrial options, and
it does not meet baseline requirements on data speed and reliability. This
means Mr. Musk's Starlink venture will qualify for over $800 million in
subsidies aiming to bridge the Digital Divide.
Consistent
with FCC Chairman Carr's game plan, set out in the Heritage Foundation Project 2025, https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf,
the FCC will exempt Starlink from essential environmental regulations. When
launching thousands of satellites, Starlink significantly adds toxic gas into
the atmosphere. These satellites have a short operational life and their
descent back to earth releases more toxicity from the incomplete vaporization
of aluminum and other particles.
