Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest people, shade each other over the course of …

The two richest men in the world grapple with US regulators over the celestial estates of their space fleets.

SpaceX has asked Elon Musk from the FCC for permission to operate the Starlink communications satellites in a lower orbit than was initially planned.

Jeff Bezos subsidiary Amazon.com says the move would risk interference and collision with its planned Kuiper satellites, which are designed like Starlink to carry internet service from space.

A dispute usually limited to regulatory filings spreads to public opinion, in a row that exposes the big personalities involved as billionaires haunt their dreams in the sky.

On Tuesday, Amazon tweeted from its official news account: “The changes proposed by SpaceX are what would hamper competition between satellite systems.” “It’s clearly in SpaceX’s interest to stifle competition in the bud if they can, but that’s definitely not in the public’s best interest.”

Jeff Bezos subsidiary Amazon.com says the move would risk interference and collision with its planned Kuiper satellites, which are designed like Starlink to carry internet service from space.

The statement came after a tweet from Musk, the richest person according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Musk said in a response on Twitter to coverage of CNBC journalist Michael Sheitz: “The public is not in the interest of today’s Starlink disrupting the Amazon satellite system, which is at best several years away from operation.”

Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. More than 1,000 satellites for its Starlink internet service and registering for first customers in the US, UK and Canada. Last year, Amazon secured FCC permission for a fleet of 3,236 satellites and has yet to launch any of them.

Amazon earlier urged the Federal Communications Commission to deny SpaceX’s request for fewer orbits. It said the change would place SpaceX’s satellites in the center of the Kuiper System’s orbits, according to agency files.

SpaceX has backed off calls to the FCC, saying its plans will not further interfere with what it called “Amazon’s still nascent plans.”

A lower orbit allows for faster internet service because the signal does not travel far. SpaceX told the FCC that having satellites close to Earth reduces the risk of space debris because they will fall from orbit at a faster speed than higher spacecraft.

SpaceX eventually plans to operate about 12,000 satellites and has obtained permission from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for about 4,400 birds, including 1,584 at an altitude of 550 kilometers – where its satellites are currently orbiting. The company is seeking permission to launch 2,824 satellites at the approximate altitude, rather than double the altitude originally proposed.

(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by an NDTV crew and was published from a joint feed.)