Billionaire presidential adviser Elon Musk on Thursday falsely accused Verizon, a rival contractor of his SpaceX Starlink system, of putting U.S. air safety at risk through a communications system that is actually operated by L3Harris.

Elon Musk said Thursday that Verizon’s efforts to provide a critically needed upgrade to the FAA’s air traffic control system is failing. And he said that it is important that Starlink, a unit of his SpaceX satellite and rocket company,

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk redirected his criticism of the Federal Aviation Administration’s aging system to L3Harris Thursday, after discovering that Verizon was not the company behind the software.

Elon Musk said Thursday that Verizon’s efforts to provide a critically needed upgrade to the FAA’s air traffic control system is failing. And he said that

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is testing the use of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet terminals in the airspace system despite a deal it struck with Verizon in 2023. The FAA awarded Verizon a $2 billion deal to improve the national airspace system,

The FAA is reportedly considering canceling a $2.4 billion Verizon contract for air traffic control upgrades because Musk's team wants SpaceX's Starlink business to handle it.

Kansas Democratic U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, left, said the suggestion from billionaire Elon Musk, a budget adviser to President Donald Trump, to cancel Verizon’s $2.4 billion, 15-year contract with FAA and hand that work to his own company Starlink created a conflict of interest. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)

The FAA is testing Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service. That could raise a possible conflict of interest, experts say.

The Federal Aviation Administration directed staff to locate tens of millions of dollars for a Starlink deal, sources tell Rolling Stone