Judges reject Viasat’s plea to stop SpaceX Starlink satellite launches

SpaceX can keep launching broadband satellites despite a lawsuit filed by Viasat, a federal appeals court ruled June 20. Viasat sued the Federal Communications Commission in May 2021 and asked judges for a stay that would halt SpaceX's ongoing launches of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites that power Starlink Internet service. To get a stay, Viasat had to show that it is likely to win its lawsuit alleging that the FCC improperly approved the satellite launches. A three-judge panel at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was not persuaded, saying in a short order that "Viasat has not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending court review." Viasat is worried that its slower Internet service delivered from geostationary satellites will lose customers once Starlink is out of beta and more widely available, and claimed that the "environmentally irresponsible" nature of SpaceX's constellation of satellites was not fully investigated by the FCC. The FCC responded by saying that halting the satellite launches would create harm "to SpaceX and to the public interest in advancing broadband satellite service to remote or underserved areas of the United States." Dish Network is also fighting SpaceX's FCC approval, and Dish's case was consolidated with Viasat's appeal.