Musk says ATC system "failing rapidly" - wants to cancel the contract to award to Starlink (1 Viewer)

[superchuck500]

Musk has been after this contract since 2022 - it's currently held by Verizon. There's no one else that I'm aware of saying the ATC system is failing rapidly. The AP is reporting that Starlink equipment is already being deployed.

1. Special Government Employees like Musk are supposed to not have contractual conflicts of interest
2. Companies can't just go and deploy their equipment "for free" at federal operations because everyone knows this is just the way in the door.
3. None of this is legal under the Competition in Contracting Act

WASHINGTON (AP) — A satellite company owned by Elon Musk has the inside track to potentially take over a large federal contract to modernize the nation’s air traffic communications system.

Equipment from Musk’s Starlink has been installed in Federal Aviation Administration facilities as a prelude to a takeover of a $2 billion contract held by Verizon, according to government employees, contractors and people familiar with the work.

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,” Musk on Monday posted on X, the social media site he has owned since 2022.

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 White House adviser to President Donald Trump and a business mogul in charge of a sprawling array of companies. It is not clear what role Musk might be playing in helping Starlink parent company SpaceX win such business.

“There’s very limited transparency,” said Jessica Tillipman, a contracting law expert at George Washington University. 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.”

Musk has inside track to take over contract to fix air traffic communications system

A satellite company owned by Elon Musk is on a possible fast track to take over a large federal contract to modernize the nation’s air traffic communications system.

apnews.com

 

[efil4]

I'm not sure how we stop any of this. It's all happening so fast, that tomorrow we will move on to the next takeover.

Irreparable damage/scorched earth tactics are being employed and I don't know we have the means to stop it.

Courts? Meanwhile they continue to dismantle to the point that it's too far gone to simply fix/turn back on?

 

[superchuck500]

I'm not sure how we stop any of this. It's all happening so fast, that tomorrow we will move on to the next takeover.

Irreparable damage/scorched earth tactics are being employed and I don't know we have the means to stop it.

Courts? Meanwhile they continue to dismantle to the point that it's too far gone to simply fix/turn back on?

I dunno - some of that bid protest litigation has teeth. They have held up major DOD acquisitions in the past.

Verizon can fund counsel, I had to imagine that they're preparing filings now.

 

[DJ1BigTymer]

I'm not sure how we stop any of this. It's all happening so fast, that tomorrow we will move on to the next takeover.

Irreparable damage/scorched earth tactics are being employed and I don't know we have the means to stop it.

Courts? Meanwhile they continue to dismantle to the point that it's too far gone to simply fix/turn back on?

...And what happens to the FAA when Musk doesn't get his way and he decides to hit the off switch? Musk has a clear political agenda and has shown that if he faces opposition to his preferred political beliefs, he will act out.