America’s gamble on satellite broadband gets real

The United States is about to make a big bet on high-speed satellite internet that promises a new model for how space technology could digitally connect the most remote parts of the country—assuming it works. Clusters of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites have provided internet access in areas across the globe. But the technology is relatively new and unproven, even as it promises to bring high-speed internet to rural and isolated parts of the U.S. at a fraction of the cost of laying down fiber cables. The nascent industry under President Trump is now poised to receive a bigger chunk of a $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program than it would have under former President Joe Biden. Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’s Amazon Leo are reportedly slated to receive a combined $1 billion, promising to reach more than a fifth of communities that currently lack access to high-speed internet (that’s in line with current federal projections, per the National Telecommunications and Information Administration). But some broadband advocates, who have long worried SpaceX is too expensive and unreliable, want to ensure the companies can deliver—especially in remote areas with no alternatives. “There’s no ribbon cutting,” said Drew Garner, director of policy engagement for the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. “This is a program that was going to benefit a lot of red areas.”