In a high-stakes decision, federal regulators announced Wednesday that SpaceX will not receive nearly $900 million in subsidies

that the company was awarded in December, citing the fact that its satellite-based service is "still developing technology"

and the company "failed to demonstrate that [it] could deliver the promised service."

The Federal Communications Commission had earmarked the funds for SpaceX's Starlink internet service as part of the agency's

largest-ever subsidy program designed to quickly get internet access to people across rural America,

where three out of five people say access to high-speed internet is still a pressing issue.

SpaceX was slated to receive a total of $856 million, one of the largest chunks of the $9 billion that was auctioned off.

But that will no longer happen.

"After careful legal, technical, and policy review, we are rejecting these applications," FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement.

"Consumers deserve reliable and affordable high-speed broadband. We must put scarce [subsidy] dollars to their best possible

use as we move into a digital future that demands ever more powerful and faster networks. We cannot afford to subsidize

ventures that are not delivering the promised speeds or are not likely to meet program requirements."

Juno spacecraft - Mission to Jupiter - NASA

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