The FCC Space Bureau approved SpaceX using VHF-band radiofrequency beacons on up to 450 of its second-generation Starlink satellites, according to a bureau order in Thursday's Daily Digest. It said the approval lets SpaceX track and maintain contact with the company's satellites during orbit raising and in case of emergencies. The agency said it will separately address SpaceX's pending request to operate second-gen Starlinks with the beacons at lower altitudes of 340-360 km.

Kepler Communications, with eight non-geostationary orbit satellites in space, is asking FCC approval to launch another 10 with optical intersatellite links and create a consolidated space data relay network. In an FCC Space Bureau application posted Tuesday to modify its U.S. market access grant and another pending U.S. market access application, Kepler said the FCC's five-year deorbit rule, adopted in 2022, necessitated the company rethinking its previously authorized cubesat system as they wouldn't deorbit within five years of the end of their missions. The company said the steeply escalating licensing fees for systems seeking U.S. market access also made its original plans for a second, separate satellite system not feasible. As a result, it needed to consider one consolidated system. Kepler said the launch of 10 second-generation satellites is expected in Q3 2025.

The FCC opted for relaxed interference protection criteria for non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) fixed satellite service (FSS) systems approved in different processing rounds despite opposition from some satellite operators. Approved Nov. 5, the order was released Friday, 10 days later. Its 5-0 approval was expected (see 2410040025). The 3% average throughput degradation long-term interference protection criteria was supported by multiple satellite operators, including SpaceX, but faced objections from OneWeb. The agency said it disagreed with OneWeb's contention that a 3% threshold would disincentivize coordination among satellite operators. Noting a lack of consensus among commenters about the appropriate short-term protection criterion, the FCC said SpaceX's proposal for a 0.4% absolute increase in unavailability metric more closely aligns with agency goals of regulatory certainty plus good opportunities for later-round entrants and competition than rival proposals did. The FCC declined to insert limits on aggregate interference in an NGSO FSS system. It said there was no demonstrated need for such limits, with 2029 the earliest when any second processing round system would be required to deploy its full constellation. The agency also rejected OneWeb's reconsideration petition on the sunset provision in the FCC's 2023 NGSO satellite spectrum sharing order (see 2307210037). It said for OneWeb and other first processing round systems, the 2030 sunset date -- 10 years after the first grant in second processing round in 2020 -- "relieves them of the uncertainty of near-term, equal sharing with new entrants intended by the sunset period."

AST SpaceMobile's first tranche of commercial BlueBird satellites is "now ready to become operational" and FCC approval of commercial direct-to-device service is "imminent," CEO Abel Avellan said in a call with analysts Thursday evening. That tranche of five BlueBirds launched in September (see 2409120004) will provide "close to 100%" nationwide coverage in the U.S., he added. AST has agreements with SpaceX and Blue Origin for the launch of 60 next-generation BlueBird satellites in 2025 and 2026 to bring service to other key markets. Chief Strategy Officer Scott Wisniewski said that once AST has 45 to 60 BlueBirds in orbit, it could offer cellular broadband coverage to the top wireless markets and have network capacity for "hundreds of millions of potential subscribers."

Having handled a record number of licensed commercial space operations in FY 2024, the FAA said Thursday it's assembling a rulemaking committee that will examine updating the agency's Part 450 launch and reentry licensing rules, which were adopted in 2020. It said the committee will include members of the commercial space industry and academia and is expected to report recommended changes by summer 2025. The FAA said it handled 148 licensed commercial space operations in FY 2024, up more than 30% versus FY 2023. It said it anticipates handling as many as twice the FY 2024 number by FY 2028.

The FCC should continue applying orbital debris rules to all space operators until Congress creates a framework that addresses mission authorization for in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing (ISAM) missions, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In a docket 22-271 filing posted Tuesday, it said Congress also could preclude FCC debris oversight by further clarifying rules and responsibilities for orbital debris oversight. The Chamber urged the FCC to schedule a future rulemaking to look at long-term spectrum needs for ISAM operations. It argued that the FCC should license ISAM missions under an "activity based" licensing framework, with a single license covering ISAM activities within the scope of the license and within the same orbital regime, instead of a "case by case" licensing framework.

Eutelsat Group CEO Eva Berneke argued against the proposed absolute increase in unavailability limit for non-geostationary orbit systems in a meeting with FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez. In a docket 21-456 filing posted Friday recapping the meeting, Eutelsat representatives said the unavailability limit in the draft NGSO fixed satellite service spectrum sharing rules on circulation (see 2410040025) would end the ability of NGSO FSS operators to meet high-availability requirements that come with public safety, government and enterprise applications. It said too-lax protection metrics could undermine the desire to invest in the U.S. and make foreign systems avoid coordination with U.S. systems.

The Navy and Air Force don't want 1435-1525 MHz used for non-federal space launches. In an NTIA letter posted Wednesday in docket 13-115, relaying those branches' input, the Air Force also urged against allowing space-to-space operations in 18.1–18.6 GHz and 18.8–20.2 GHz bands. The Air Force said 2025-2110 MHz is already shared with non-federal users and used by DOD for satellite uplinks and cross-links, and allowing nonemergency, nonfederal communications in the band poses a risk to those incumbent uses. The Navy and Air Force said allocating 1435-1525 MHz for nonfederal space launches "would create an untenable situation" for DOD ranges' use of the band.

Preparing for the next generation of human activity on the moon will require new spectrum propagation models to avoid conflicting communications spectrum uses there, NTIA Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Sarah Morris said Wednesday during an agency panel discussion on lunar spectrum. William Kozma, supervisor of the propagation modeling group at NTIA's institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS), said the lack of atmosphere, as well as the moon's unique mineral composition and its irregular surface, mean the traditional modeling approach doesn't apply. The moon's distance is a big challenge to getting data for the creation of propagation models, speakers said. Michael Zemba, lunar communications engineer at NASA's Glenn Research Center, said Intuitive Machines' lunar lander mission early this year provided data that the company and agency are analyzing. He said a second Intuitive Machines mission will have a 4G LTE system on a lunar rover to help collect more. Rather than coalescing around one propagation model for the moon, it might make more sense to have a family of models, with different ones employed in different situations, said Chris Anderson, NTIA ITS theory division chief.

SpaceX will not reach its 144-launches goal in 2024, but it still expects to conduct 30 more launches before year's end, Vice President-Launch Kiko Dontchev posted on X Tuesday. He said 2025's goal will exceed 144. Its Oct. 23 launch was its 100th Falcon launch in 2024, the company said.