--- title: "It Looks an Awful Lot Like Elon Musk Is Awarding a Huge Government Contract to Himself" description: "The FAA is considering cancelling a $2.4 billion, 15-year contract that was awarded to Verizon in 2023, and hand it to Musk's SpaceX." date: "2025-02-27" modified: "2025-02-27" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musk-faa-spacex-contract" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "federal aviation administration" - "SpaceX" - "starlink" --- # It Looks an Awful Lot Like Elon Musk Is Awarding a Huge Government Contract to Himself ![The FAA is considering cancelling a $2.4 billion, 15-year contract that was awarded to Verizon in 2023, and hand it to Musk's SpaceX.]() *\Image: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images\* Multi-hypenate billionaire and unelected White House advisor Elon Musk has been accused of [unabashedly enriching himself]() on the [dime of American taxpayers]() — while [slashing funding]() across a growing number of agencies. And that conflict of interest is about to really be put to the test. As the [*Washington Post* reports](), the Federal Aviation Administration — which was recently gutted by Musk's Department of Government Efficiency — is considering cancelling a $2.4 billion, 15-year contract that was awarded to Verizon in 2023, and hand it to Musk's SpaceX instead. The contract's goal was to upgrade the platform that allows air traffic control facilities and the FAA to communicate with each other, an extremely important piece of infrastructure that could soon get a massive upgrade — or be thrown into [chaos and mismanagement](). According to *WaPo*'s sources, the Verizon contract could be soon handed to Starlink, SpaceX's satellite internet constellation in low-Earth orbit, yet another glaring sign that Musk is greedily wielding his newfound influence to pad out his bottom line. It's an already precarious situation, [following a disastrous plane crash]() that killed 67 people earlier this year. Just over a week earlier, the Trump administration had [eliminated all members]() of a key aviation security advisory group, and [frozen all hiring]() at the FAA, including [key air traffic controllers](). Musk took aim at Verizon earlier this week, arguing in a [tweet]() that its "system is not working and so is putting air travelers at serious risk." Critics, however, have since pointed out Musk's enormous conflict of interest. "Because of Musk’s current position in DOGE and his closeness to Trump, he and his company are getting an advantage and getting a contract," Santa Clara University ethics center director John Pelissero told *WaPo*. "Who’s looking out for the public interest here when you get the person who’s cutting budgets and personnel from the FAA, suddenly trying to benefit from still another government contract?" he added. Former FAA officials [told the *Associated Press*]() they were "alarmed at the prospect of Starlink being used as a critical part of the nation’s aviation system without adequate testing, review and debate about its benefits and drawbacks." The news comes after [*Bloomberg* reported]() that Musk had authorized a shipment of 4,000 Starlink terminals to the FAA. The agency has since told *WaPo* in a statement that "no decisions have been made" regarding the existing Verizon project. But early signs of a SpaceX takeover at the FAA are already apparent. According to the newspaper, a number of SpaceX employees have been working from within the regulator for days, where they've even been given FAA email addresses. The agency also revealed that it was already testing Starlink systems to provide more reliable connectivity in parts of the country. "We’re going to look at a year, year-and-a-half time frame and do massive upgrades, improve the systems, help air traffic controllers, keep our skies safer," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy [told *Fox News*](). Musk has already been gutting agencies in charge of [investigating SpaceX](), as [well as his EV maker Tesla](). That's despite Musk and his businesses collecting at least $38 *billion* in government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits over the last 20 or so years, as the [*WaPo* reported earlier this week](). Massive conflict of interest aside, the FAA's communications network is in dire need of an upgrade. A [2023 safety review]() already found that technical shortcomings were proving "challenging." But ripping up the Verizon contract could actually cost the government far more, not just in fees associated with termination but possible litigation as well, which could fly directly in the face of DOGE's alleged goals of slashing wasteful spending. "When the government terminates a contract it’s not like it shuts off the spigot," George Washington University associate dean for government and procurement law studies Jessica Tillipman told *WaPo*. "It’s expensive to wind down a contract. It’s very expensive and it’s complicated." **More on Starlink:** *[Elon Musk Says Next-Gen Starlink Satellites Will Be So Huge They’ll Need to be Launched With Starship]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()