Time for Update of NGSO FSS License Mod Rules, Amazon Petitions
The FCC needs to update the standard for when a non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed satellite service (FSS) modification application would be considered as part of a subsequent processing round and the criteria for modifications that presumptively warrant updated spectrum sharing,…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Export Compliance Daily combines U.S. export control news, foreign border import regulation and policy developments into a single daily information service that reliably informs its trade professional readers about important current issues affecting their operations.
Amazon's Kuiper said in a petition for rulemaking Friday. Rules give little guidance to NGSO FSS licensees and applicants about when modifications will require consideration as part of a subsequent processing round or affect spectrum sharing. It said the current approach could lead to "perverse results," such as an applicant filing speculative applications for satellites it never plans to launch to avoid losing the spectrum sharing rights and processing round status that would come with a modification seeking to increase the number of satellites. The company said rules should presume such modifications as changes in apogee or perigee by more than 10 kilometers in altitude, changes in orbital inclination of more than two degrees or changes that materially increase the number of or length of in-line interference events would be considered in a subsequent processing round.