Elon Musk Vs. Jeff Bezos, A Feud That Will Bring Huge Changes To The World And Space

The feud between Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, could affect human civilization and technology. (photo: firstpost)

JAKARTA - For years, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk have been arguing about the performance of rockets and their space company. The feud includes a battle over who can use NASA's launch pad and which company will land a rocket on the moon or Mars first.

Now two billionaires, who are also among the richest people in the world, are fighting an increasingly fierce battle. They now pit two big business empires in clashes played out in court, the Federal Communications Commission and the halls of Congress, a venue that has become one of the largest business rivalries in a generation.

The feud began as a battle between Musk and his SpaceX company and Bezos' Blue Origin space company over NASA's massive contract to land astronauts on the moon. Now the feud also includes a race to build a satellite Internet service in space.

Over the past few years, SpaceX has launched a constellation of satellites that could number in the thousands, which are meant to transmit Internet signals to Earth. Amazon has similar plans with a program called Kuiper, which has yet to launch a satellite.

On August 25, Amazon challenged SpaceX's application to the FCC to modify its plans, saying that such modification would violate FCC rules. Six days later, SpaceX responded without further ado.

They openly ignore Amazon's technical capabilities. Even SpaceX accused the company of trying to delay SpaceX's efforts to atone for its own failure. Amazon's track record, according to SpaceX, "suffices to show that because it lags behind competitors, and seeks to use regulatory and legal processes to create barriers designed to delay competitors from leaving Amazon further behind."

On Wednesday, September 8, Amazon hit back. They have accused Musk of publicly defying legitimate regulations over and over again. "The behavior of SpaceX and other companies led by Musk makes their view clear: the rules are for someone else, and those who insist or even just ask for compliance deserve derision and ad hominem attacks," an Amazon source said.

On Thursday, September 9, SpaceX put forward another new excuse. "A week away, another objection from Amazon against competitors (will emerge), but still no sign of progress on Amazon's rumored legacy satellite system," his letter to the FCC begins.

Industrial Giant

For decades, corporate America has been built on fierce competition between industry giants. For example, since the time of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller more than a century ago.

Now Musk and Bezos are writing a new chapter focused on space, a sector romanticized by popular culture and nostalgia for the 1960s Apollo era, but which has emerged in recent years as one of the most exciting industries with enormous growth potential.

Both Bezos and Musk describe their space ambitions as a way to help humanity. For example by creating a city on Mars, as Musk wants, or building a colony in Earth orbit, as Bezos envisions.

“But space is also a huge business opportunity,” said Margaret O'Mara, a professor at the University of Washington and author of "The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America," a history of the technology era.

"They're not civil servants, they're businessmen," O'Mara said. "Space is a passion for these two billionaires, but it's also a thriving industry and there's a lot of money to be made in it."

The companies are well aware that their competition is taking place in real time, via social media, in an era when Silicon Valley executives are often watched closely as Hollywood actors.

“They compete against a backdrop that has given rise to celebrity-driven business leaders,” says O'Mara, and Musk in particular has been adept at “creating an incredibly loyal fan base” with nearly 60 million Twitter followers and an appearance this year on “Saturday Night Live. ."

“This is a reflection of the time we are in with the incredible power that these incredibly wealthy few have,” said O'Mara.

For all their differences, Musk and Bezos have charted a common path in building their empire. Both have the supernatural ability to turn entire industries upside down with new, innovative products.

They also have the ability to see far into the future and the fortitude to stay true to their beliefs, defy doubt and overlook short-term losses for long-term gains.

At PayPal, Musk helped disrupt the credit card industry and changed the way American consumers pay for goods and services. At Tesla, he has ruled the entire car industry and revolutionized the electric car market. SpaceX is fighting the military-industrial complex that has dominated space for decades and has been NASA's preferred launch partner.

With Amazon, Bezos first upended traditional bookstores, then all retail stores as he turned the company into a giant "everything store." Now Amazon Web Services is changing the way companies store their data.

Elon Musk excels

Now, in the second half of their illustrious career, Musk and Bezos, who stepped down as Amazon's CEO in July but remains its executive chairman, are tied together over a series of ventures that could define their legacy.

For now, Musk excels in almost every area. SpaceX has sent three teams of astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) and on Tuesday, September 14 is scheduled to launch a crew of civilian astronauts on a three-day journey around Earth. Instead Blue Origin has launched a single suborbital mission into space but it only lasted less than 10 minutes.

SpaceX has launched nearly 2,000 Starlink satellites into orbit, carrying Musk's riskiest and boldest mission yet: providing Internet services from space.

Recently, Musk wrote on Twitter that his company has delivered 100,000 ground terminals for the system and serves 14 countries. Last year, the FCC announced it was giving SpaceX $886 million to help serve hundreds of thousands of customers in the United States, part of a $9.2 billion effort to improve broadband access.