---
title: "SpaceX’s Orbital Internet Could Restore Net Neutrality"
description: "When the Starlink network goes live, SpaceX could potentially have the opportunity to restore net neutrality protections."
date: "2019-05-14"
modified: "2019-05-14"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-orbital-internet-net-neutrality"
categories:
  - "Space"
  - "SpaceX"
tags:
  - "elon musk"
  - "Net Neutrality"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "starlink"
  - "the digest"
---

# SpaceX’s Orbital Internet Could Restore Net Neutrality

![When the Starlink network goes live, SpaceX could potentially have the opportunity to restore net neutrality protections.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/spacex-orbital-internet-net-neutrality.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Shutterstock/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Clean Slate

Starlink, the planned constellation of SpaceX satellites that will blanket the planet, is expected to start [beaming down high-speed internet](<https://futurism.com/spacex-satellites-approval-fcc>) by the mid-2020s.

When the network goes live, *Inverse* [reports that](<https://www.inverse.com/article/55798-spacex-starlink-how-elon-musk-could-disrupt-the-internet-forever>) SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has a chance to give the world the gift of a free and open internet — something the United States has arguably been missing since the FCC [gutted American net neutrality protections](<https://futurism.com/net-neutrality-gone-affect-you>) last year.

## Speculation

Neither Musk nor SpaceX has clarified whether the Starlink network will restore net neutrality — as of press time a SpaceX representative hasn't returned Futurism's request for a comment.

But speculatively, the company's stated goal of [providing the world](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-starlink-satellites-space-debris>) with cheap and fast internet service seems to line up with the ideology of a free, neutral internet devoid of expensive fast lanes or deprioritized websites.

Until the network goes live, we'll have to hope that it circumvents the net neutrality debate by providing a better option than terrestrial telecom companies.

**READ MORE:** [Elon Musk's Starlink Could Bring Back Net Neutrality and Upend the Internet](<https://www.inverse.com/article/55798-spacex-starlink-how-elon-musk-could-disrupt-the-internet-forever>) \[*Inverse*\]

**More on Starlink:** *[SpaceX's Starlink Satellites Could Make Space a Minefield](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-starlink-satellites-space>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)