By BYRON TAU and BERNARD CONDON

WASHINGTON (AP) — A satellite company owned by Elon Musk has the inside track to potentially take over a large federal contract to modernize the nation’s air traffic communications system.

Related Articles

Coca-Cola’s appeal to Palestinians fizzles as the Mideast war boosts demand for a local look-alike

R.I.P. CFPB? What’s at stake if the watchdog agency goes dark

Hungry mortgage lenders are dangling deals and discounts

SBA administrator orders regional offices to exit “sanctuary cities”

How one startup wants to bring an innovative solution to the plastic bag problem

Equipment from Musk’s Starlink has been installed in Federal Aviation Administration facilities as a prelude to a takeover of a $2 billion contract held by Verizon, according to government employees, contractors and people familiar with the work.

Musk said that the network used by air traffic controllers is aging and requires drastic and quick action to modernize it.

“The Verizon system is not working and so is putting air travelers at serious risk,” Musk on Monday posted on X, the social media site he has owned since 2022.

The emergence of Starlink as a potential replacement for the Verizon-led effort underscores the extraordinary conflicts of interest inherent in Musk’s position as both a senior White House adviser to President Donald Trump and a business mogul in charge of a sprawling array of companies. It is not clear what role Musk might be playing in helping Starlink parent company SpaceX win such business.

“There’s very limited transparency,” said Jessica Tillipman, a contracting law expert at George Washington University. Referring to Musk, she said: “Without that transparency, we have no idea how much non-public information he has access to or what role he’s playing in what contracts are being awarded.”

Former FAA officials also told The Associated Press that they were alarmed at the prospect of Starlink being used as a critical part of the nation’s aviation system without adequate testing, review and debate about its benefits and drawbacks.

SpaceX is angling to use its constellation of satellites to replace an aging ground-based communications system that facilitates the FAA’s text and voice communication, the sources said. The Verizon contract, awarded in 2023, was to update part of that system to a more modern standard relying on fiber optic cables.

Contracting records show that nearly $200 million in work has already been done on Verizon’s 15-year modernization effort to update the FAA’s communications system. A Verizon representative said the company is unaware that the contract is being amended or terminated.

The FAA announced on X on Monday that the agency is testing a Starlink terminal at its facility in Atlantic City and two terminals at “non-safety critical sites” in Alaska. Terminals are ground-based receivers that connect devices or computers to orbiting satellites.

Another FAA contractor, L3 Harris, confirmed it was responsible for acquiring and testing Starlink terminals for incorporation into the FAA’s telecommunications infrastructure network. An L3 Harris spokesperson said the company has been working with SpaceX on the initiative for many months.

Bloomberg News reported earlier about the FAA installing Starlink terminals at its facilities.

Details about SpaceX employees deployed to work on the project are unclear, but three of its software developers appeared on a Trump administration list of government workers given “ethics waivers” to do work that could benefit Musk’s company.

Government ethics laws require that people who could profit from government work either recuse themselves from specific projects or first sell their financial holdings or sever ties with the company that could benefit. Waivers can be granted by the heads of government departments or other officials, but only in limited circumstances.

Ted Malaska, a senior director of application software at SpaceX, got a waiver along with two software engineers, Brady Glantz and Thomas Kiernan, according to the waiver list and LinkedIn profiles. The AP could not determine if the three are still working for SpaceX or the precise nature of work for the federal government.

Malaska posted on social media on Thursday that he had been meeting at FAA headquarters with officials responsible for implementation of the telecommunications modernization.

The FAA contract is not Musk’s only conflict. His acolytes have also taken over many of the operations at the General Services Administration, which controls real estate and contracting for numerous government agencies. GSA currently offers other agencies the ability to launch payloads through an existing SpaceX contract —- putting the agency in a position to direct business toward Musk. The Department of Transportation regulates aspects of SpaceX and his electric car company Tesla. NASA and the Department of Defense are major customers of SpaceX. His brain-computer interface company Neuralink has regulatory issues in front of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

AP writer Kimberly Kindy contributed from Washington.

By JOSEF FEDERMAN and ABBY SEWELL

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli and Hamas officials said Tuesday they have reached an agreement to exchange the bodies of dead hostages for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, keeping their fragile ceasefire intact for at least a few more days.

Related Articles

Coca-Cola’s appeal to Palestinians fizzles as the Mideast war boosts demand for a local look-alike

Ukraine and US have agreed on a framework economic deal, Ukrainian officials say

‘Puppy Mountain’: A cliff that looks like a puppy resting beside the Yangtze River delights in China

Ex-Church of England leader faces potential disciplinary action over handling of abuse claims

UK to raise defense spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, Starmer says 2 days before Trump meeting

Israel has delayed the release of 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it says is the cruel treatment of hostages during their release. Hamas has said the delay is a “serious violation” of their ceasefire and that talks on a second phase are not possible until they are freed.

The deadlock had threatened to collapse the ceasefire when the current six-week first phase of the deal expires this weekend.

But late Tuesday, Hamas said an agreement had been reached to resolve the dispute during a visit to Cairo by a delegation headed by Khalil al-Hayya, a top political official in the group.

The breakthrough appeared to clear the way for the return of the bodies of four more dead hostages and hundreds of additional prisoners scheduled to be released under the ceasefire.

People wave Israeli flags before the funeral of former hostage Oded Lifshitz in Rishon Lezion, central Israel, on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. Lifshitz was abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and his remains were returned from Gaza to Israel last week as part of a ceasefire with Hamas. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

The prisoners previously slated for release “will be released simultaneously with the bodies of the Israeli prisoners who were agreed to be handed over,” along with the release of a new set of Palestinian prisoners, the statement said.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, confirmed an agreement to bring home the bodies in the coming days. He gave no further details.

The agreement could clear the way for the an expected visit for the White House’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, to the region.

Witkoff has said he wants the sides to move into negotiations on the second phase, during which all remaining hostages held by Hamas are to be released and an end to the war is to be negotiated.

Sewell reported from Beirut.

If negotiations with the county are unsuccessful Monday, Ramsey County probation officers and Teamsters Local 320, the union representing more than 200 probation officers in the county, plan to strike, according to union officials.

The Minnesota Bureau of Mediation Services received a notice of intent to strike from the union last week following mediation. The bureau will have both parties meet Monday in state-facilitated mediation before officers can begin a strike.

If negotiations are unsuccessful, probation officers would then have until the end of March 24 to initiate a strike.

Teamsters Local 320 represents 213 probation officers in the county.

Union officials say they want wage parity with Hennepin County probation officers and overtime parity with other correctional institution personnel in Ramsey County. Their other concerns involve professional development and seniority issues.

Negotiations stalled when the parties could not come to an agreement on professional development, according to Gus Froemke, lead negotiator with Teamsters Local 320.

Currently, probation officers are able to move up probation officer classification grades in a five-year period, Froemke said.

“Unfortunately, the employer wants it so that they have full authority over who gets to promote from probation officer to senior probation officer in the new restructured proposal,” he said.

Ramsey County’s minimum entry-level pay and maximum experience pay for probation officers are currently the lowest in the seven-county metro area, according to union officials.

“Ramsey County values its 213 probation officers represented by Teamsters Local 320 and the critical work they do,” county officials said in a statement Tuesday. “We look forward to continuing our conversations with Teamsters Local 320 at the bargaining table. Like other recently negotiated contracts, county leaders are committed to reaching a fair, equitable, and competitive agreement while ensuring high-quality service and fiscal responsibility. In preparation for a potential strike, county leaders have made arrangements to ensure uninterrupted care and well-being for staff, residents in county facilities, and the public.”

The county and the union have been negotiating since October. Represented employees with settled union contracts and most unrepresented employees receive annual wage increases of 3% in 2025, 3.5% in 2026 and 4.5% in 2027. A modernization of job classifications also has county government wages increasing by an average of 2%.

Related Articles

Ex-Isanti police officer admits to sending lewd photo to friend’s daughter

Oklahoma man pleads guilty to 2023 shooting death in St. Paul’s Battle Creek neighborhood

St. Paul man, Mounds View woman get federal prison for carjacking woman, 74, in South Minneapolis

Feds get eighth guilty plea in smuggling ring that mailed fentanyl in stuffed animals

St. Paul man who accidentally shot 19-year-old friend spared prison time

INDIANAPOLIS — As he talked with reporters on Tuesday afternoon at the 2025 NFL Combine, Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell beamed with pride when reflecting on everything veteran quarterback Sam Darnold had accomplished in Minnesota.

A heavy emphasis on accomplished.

Though he didn’t confirm that the Vikings were, in fact, turning the page, O’Connell spoke in the past tense a number of times, almost as if he had slowly started the process of moving on from the quarterback who helped his team win 14 games last season.

Darnold, 27, is set to become a free agent next month.

“He’s in a position where the NFL thinks he can play quarterback at a high level,” O’Connell said. “That’s a really good thing. I feel very proud to be a part of helping him get to this point. Now, we’ll see where it goes from here.”

It was a similar tone from general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah as he tried to sum up what Darnold meant to the Vikings during a memorable regular season that was, in the end, soured by a disaster in the playoffs.

“He played a lot of good football for us,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We’re excited about the potential for Sam wherever that ends up being.”

After signing a one-year, $10 million contract with Vikings in free agency, Darnold vastly outperformed his price tag while steadily rewriting the narrative on his career. He helped the the Vikings put together an improbable 14-3 record and completed 66.2 percent of passes for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns in the process.

At first glance, the Vikings would seem foolish to move on from that type of production, especially given how impressive Darnold looked at various points under the tutelage of O’Connell.

On the other hand, Darnold crumbled under pressure during a 31-9 loss to the Detroit Lions in the regular season finale — with an NFC North title, No. 1 playoff seed and first-round bye on the line — and then struggled mightily during a 27-9 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the first round of the playoffs.

“When we did the move originally, we wanted to create optionality, and part of the optionality was believing in a guy who was young and talented, and believing in our infrastructure and the things we can do with quarterbacks,” Adofo-Mensah said.
“Now we’re in a position where we have options, and we’ll continue to work those options and figure out the best way for the Vikings to move forward.”

Free agency officially begins March 12, and there are a number of options the Vikings have at their disposal. That includes signing Darnold to a multiyear contract extension, letting him go to market or, maybe most interesting, placing the franchise tag on him. The deadline to do that is March 4.

If the Vikings decide to place the franchise tag on Darnold, they could do so with hopes of trading him to the highest bidder. That could help them ensure they get something for him rather than lose him for nothing.

The biggest unknown there, of course, is whether they’ll find a willing trade partner. That’s why it wouldn’t be surprising if the Vikings are on a fact-finding mission this week at the Combine. Leadership from all 32 teams is in attendance at Lucas Oil Stadium, and Minnesota needs to determine if any team would be willing to give up an asset in exchange for Darnold’s services.

Those conversations could go a long way toward shaping who plays quarterback for the Vikings moving forward.

“We’re evaluating the short term and long term aspect of it,” O’Connell said. “It’s still early in the offseason process, and ultimately we’re excited about what lies ahead.”

Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Related Articles

Vikings left tackle Christian Darrisaw on track with his recovery

Five questions the Vikings must answer at the 2025 NFL Combine

Dan Endy Sr., co-founder of NFL Films and Twin Cities sports fixture, has died

Aaron Rodgers’ stint with the Jets is over. Vikings among potential landing spots?

The Loop Ten Special Edition: Super Bowl LIX