// 18:08 UTC Amazon wants US regulators to reject a SpaceX application for permission to launch a fleet of orbital datacenter satellites, criticizing it as incomplete, speculative, and unrealistic. Elon Musk's rocket business recently proposed building an orbiting constellation of satellites serving as spaceborne datacenters, for which it needs the approval of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC put out a public notice for comments on the application last month, as reported by The Register. Orbital datacenters subject to launch stress, nasty space weather, and expensive house calls Amazon, which operates a rival satellite telecoms operation to SpaceX's Starlink, has not wasted time in making its objections known. In a filing dated March 6, Amazon Leo claims the application provides only the barest outline of how SpaceX will deliver on its “grand claims.” SpaceX is seeking authority to operate a constellation of up to a million satellites in low Earth orbit, a remarkable number given that around 15,000 satellites in total are currently circling the planet. Those grand claims include the assertion that this would be the first step towards becoming a Type II civilization on the Kardashev scale – defined as one capable of using the entire energy output from its home star. Amazon Leo argues the SpaceX application lacks basic details including satellite design, the radio frequency characteristics of the units, and "any plan for managing conjunctions or interference at million-satellite scale." In short, it says, the application seems to describe a lofty ambition rather than a real plan, and derides it as a "speculative placeholder rather than a complete application under the Commission's rules." We asked SpaceX for comment. Amazon Leo also raises concerns about satellite interference with astronomy and environmental objections to pollution from rocket launches and satellites burning up as their orbits decay. These criticisms could also be leveled at Amazon itself.