As DOGE slashes budgets, FAA close to canceling $2.4b...

The FAA could hand the contract to overhaul an integral U.S. air traffic control communications system to the mogul’s satellite company. Elon Musk could soon acquire another government contract worth $2.4 billion as the Federal Aviation Administration considers ditching Verizon for the billionaire’s Starlink, according to a report.

Image Credit: The Independent [Verizon was awarded the contract in 2023 and tasked with upgrading the system that different air traffic control facilities use to communicate]

In a statement, the FAA told The Independent that “no decisions have been made” about the contract. Verizon was awarded the contract in 2023 and tasked with upgrading the system that different air traffic control facilities use to communicate. Musk said that the network used by air traffic controllers is aging and requires drastic and quick action to modernize it. “The Verizon system is not working and so is putting air travelers at serious risk,” the billionaire said in a post on X Monday.

Verizon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The FAA confirmed it is testing Starlink at its facility in Atlantic City this week and at sites in Alaska but said it has been considering using Musk’s company “since the prior administration to increase reliability at remote sites.”.

The emergence of Starlink as a potential replacement for the Verizon-led effort underscores the extraordinary conflicts of interest inherent in Musk’s position as both a “senior government employee” and a business mogul in charge of a sprawling array of companies.

“Who’s looking out for the public interest here when you get the person who’s cutting budgets and personnel from the FAA, suddenly trying to benefit from still another government contract?” John P. Pelissero, director of an ethics center at Santa Clara University, told the Post.

“There’s very limited transparency,” Jessica Tillipman, a contracting law expert at George Washington University, told the Associated Press. Referring to Musk, she said: “Without that transparency, we have no idea how much non-public information he has access to or what role he’s playing in what contracts are being awarded.”.

GSA currently offers other agencies the ability to launch payloads through an existing SpaceX contract — putting the agency in a position to direct business toward Musk. The Department of Transportation regulates aspects of SpaceX and his electric car company Tesla.