The ambitious plans of Ilona Mask - to surround the earth with a swarm of Internet satellites - have faced a tough confrontation between regulators seeking to balance the forces of SpaceX company and its competitors, reports Bloomberg..

One way to make money on his program SpaceX Ilon Mask believed the launch of orbiting satellites the size of a refrigerator, transmitting the Internet signal. But the zeal of the billionaire was cooled by state institutions and international organizations, as other world-wide Internet providers are striving to orbit.

SpaceX and Boeing Co, linked together, planned to put into orbit 2,956 satellites. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reviewed the project of the company Ilona Mask on Tuesday and decided that the power of the SpaceX satellites should be less, and the spectrum of the signal transmission is already. The company is unhappy, because it will reduce the effectiveness of its orbital equipment.

However, the regulator justifies its decision simply - if all companies broadcast the Internet signal at that frequency and with the power they want, then signals from different companies will overlap and interference can not be avoided.

The FCC voted unanimously to partially grant the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), one of the UN units, how to coordinate the work of the satellites.

SpaceX will have to put up with the neighborhood of OneWeb and Telesat. OneWeb has the priority of broadcasting in one part of the world outside the United States on the same range of spectrum, and Telesat - in other countries and in a different spectrum. This means that in some cases SpaceX will "muffle" the signal of its satellites and, possibly, limit the frequencies that it uses, which means that satellite Internet outside the US will not be so economically advantageous, says Tim Farrar, satellite industry consultant.

However, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai, thinks differently.

"The satellite fleet can become a field for wider competition, which benefits all consumers," he said at a meeting of the FCC in Washington.

However, according to the ITU rules, satellite systems with spectrum priority can not simply block or ignore other networks and must develop technical and operational solutions to work in the current conditions.

The FCC gave companies six years to deploy half of their satellites, and three more years to complete their constellation. Previously, the agency required all satellites to be deployed for six years.

SpaceX opposes. With this plan, the company will have to put into orbit 60 satellites every month, which will be difficult even for her, despite all the possibilities. The company asks permission to withdraw 1,600 satellites at once, and 2,825 - after the expiry of the 6-year period.

In addition, there is a risk that a satellite that has fallen into the atmosphere as a result of a malfunction can harm people. And although the possibility is very low - 1: 18,2 thousand, and the risk of satellite falling when all 4,425 devices are put into orbit is 1: 5, SpaceX continues development, reducing the risk of accidents and increasing the possibility of burning a satellite when falling into the atmosphere.