The head of the European Space Agency warned that the lack of co-ordinated action meant the US billionaire was making the rules himself, and urged the leaders to stop facilitating his ambition.
The new director-general of the European Space Agency said that Europe's readiness to help the rapid expansion of Musk's Starlink satellite internet service risked preventing the region's own companies from realising the potential of commercial space.
He said in an interview with the Financial Times that space will be more restrictive. The governments of Europe should be interested in giving European providers equal opportunities to play in a fair market.
The International Telecommunications Union coordinates the use of wireless frequencies for carrying data, and Germany applied to grant Starlink spectrum for 40,000 satellites. More than 30,000 satellites have been approved by US regulators.
Musk said earlier this year that his private rocket company was prepared to spend up to $30 billion to expand Starlink.
Musk's Starlink was so large that it was difficult for regulators or rivals to catch up. Half of the active satellites are owned by one person. That is quite amazing. He is making the rules. Europe is not responding quickly enough.
Starlink and the UK government-backed OneWeb are leading a rush to create mega-constellations of hundreds and even thousands of satellites in low-Earth orbit, or LEO, to provide broadband to places hard to reach by cable.
Both the Chinese government and Amazon plan to launch their own constellations.
A new generation of space companies is trying to deliver commercial services from the lower cost of satellites.
The lack of a global space traffic management system for low-Earth orbit, a region of up to 2,000 km above the Earth where most new commercial services are targeted, has caused concern over the rush to tap the potential of commercial space, made possible by falling launch costs and cheaper, smaller satellites
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The Satellite Industry Association estimated last year that there could be more than 100,000 commercial satellites in the sky by 2029.
New rules were needed to ensure the safe use of space, according to Luxembourg's economy minister.
You have people like Musk who are just launching satellites and throwingTeslas up into the sky. Common rules are needed. He said on the sidelines of the New Space conference that colonization is a concern.
Starlink did not reply to the request for comment.
Traditional operators rely on a small number of expensive, high-orbit satellites to provide services such as television transmission.
There is no overarching international authority that controls the launch of satellites. There is a growing risk of crashes which could cause a lot of debris. Space junk is a serious hazard.
Steve Collar, chief executive of SES, said the industry was about to get too many satellites deployed. A lot of these plans are in response to the fact that nobody is regulating. Luxembourg has voting rights in SES.
Musk has come under fire for the pace of his expansion. In the first half of the year, his company launched more than 100 satellites every month.
Astronomers worry that huge numbers of satellites will interfere with ground-based telescopes and could impact the appearance of the night sky for stargazers worldwide.
The founder of NORSS said that the fact that Musk manufactured his own satellites meant he could move faster than his competitors. He is almost owning the orbital planes because no one can get in there. Musk is creating his own sovereignty in space.
Aschbacher said it was clear that US regulators were interested in developing the economy and certain economic sectors. This is happening very clearly. And very strongly.
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