SpaceX Snipes at Blue Origin's Starlink Challenger Over Interference Risks

SpaceX Snipes at Blue Origin’s Starlink Challenger Over Interference Risks

April 17, 2026

Blue Origin’s effort to build its own terabit satellite internet system is facing some pushback from SpaceX over concerns about radio interference with Starlink.

On Thursday, SpaceX sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission about Blue Origin’s TeraWave, a potential Starlink challenger meant to serve enterprises and governments using 5,408 next-generation satellites. SpaceX isn’t asking the FCC to reject the project, but it argues that part of the proposed operations for TeraWave could create “significant interference problems for competing satellite systems.”

“In fact, its operations would increase spectrum use through additional inefficient antennas that will cause more interference problems for millions of consumers who rely on competing satellite systems,” SpaceX wrote, alluding to Starlink, which has over 10 million active customers globally.

At issue is telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C), or how a company communicates and manages a satellite constellation using radio frequencies. Blue Origin has proposed using various radio bands, including select Ka- and E-bands, specifically the 18.8 to 19.3GHz and 71 to 76GHz bands and 81 to 86GHz bands.

FCC/Blue Origin

(Credit: FCC/Blue Origin)

The problem is that Starlink uses the same bands for downloads and gateway transmissions. SpaceX now points to the risk of interference because the company proposes using two “low-gain, omnidirectional Ka- and E-band antennas” on TeraWave’s low-Earth orbiting satellites.

“Not only would these operations trade narrow, efficient beams for continent-sized contours, but they would also require significantly more power and be more susceptible to weather and atmospheric attenuation,” leading to signal scattering, SpaceX wrote.

“For example, if Blue Origin uses omnidirectional antennas as it proposes, it will have to employ narrow bandwidth signals with high power spectral density to overcome the low gain of its TT&C antennas. This will cause significant interference for SpaceX’s uplink and downlink transmissions in the shared bands,” the company added. SpaceX also says it isn’t convinced Blue Origin can coordinate in good faith with other satellite operators to prevent the interference.

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Starlink image

(Photo illustration by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

To address the problem, SpaceX says Blue Origin should adopt “high-gain directional E-band links” to create narrow radio beams to facilitate the TT&C operations. “Accordingly, the Commission should ensure that Blue Origin’s TT&C operations do not come at the expense of people who count on these bands for backhaul and reliable, high-capacity satellite services,” the company added.

Blue Origin didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. In the meantime, other satellite operators have also been weighing in on the Terawave proposal after the FCC accepted the company’s application for review.

AST SpaceMobile, which is developing satellite-to-phone services, has also flagged radio interference risks with its own constellation. The company is asking the FCC to require Blue Origin to submit technical demonstrations and to coordinate with AST to prevent potential interference. Meanwhile, Viasat submitted a petition for the FCC to deny Blue Origin’s proposal for the TT&C operation for TeraWave, arguing it “would foreclose more efficient spectrum uses, and would pose unacceptable interference risks to other operators.”