Apple and Elon Musk’s SpaceX are quietly battling behind the scenes as both companies race to bring satellite-powered cellphone service to more people, especially in remote areas with no regular signal.
Sources familiar with the matter say Apple’s growing push into space-based communications—via a $1 billion US deal with satellite firm Globalstar—is reportedly frustrating Musk, claims the Wall Street Journal.
While Apple is working to improve emergency texting and roadside assistance on iPhones using satellites, SpaceX has already launched more than 550 satellites through its Starlink Direct to Cell service, which works with any cellphone for the most part, without the need for extra software. Rogers is the first Canadian partner with the Starlink service set to launch later this year.
The conflict boils down to spectrum—the limited radio frequencies needed to carry signals. People close to the situation say SpaceX recently tried to block Globalstar’s request to use more spectrum, arguing that the airwaves Apple’s system relies on aren’t being used effectively.
Tensions escalated after SpaceX and its partner T-Mobile asked Apple to make their upcoming Starlink service work smoothly on iPhones. Discussions were tense, but they eventually reached a deal allowing the T-Mobile/Starlink system—expected to launch this summer—to integrate with newer iPhones.
“This technology has already helped save lives,” Apple said in a statement. “These satellite features are designed to complement carrier offerings, giving users even more ways to stay connected.”
Adrian Perica, Apple’s VP of corporate development, has been leading talks with SpaceX in an effort to ease the standoff, according to people involved.
While Apple has leaned on Globalstar for its current satellite plans, insiders say the company knows it’ll need more help long term. It has explored partnerships with other satellite firms like EchoStar and even looked at working with Boeing, though that deal never moved ahead.
Despite the clash, both companies rely on each other in some ways—SpaceX is the one launching Apple’s Globalstar satellites into orbit.
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Unless Musk sells SpaceX and has zero ties (indirect or direct) with it the outcome will be something like a James Bond movie, without James Bond.