The FCC's supplemental coverage from space (SCS) NPRM adopted at last week's meeting (see 2303160009) adds the AWS-H block to the list of bands being considered from the SCS framework, and adds questions about also using FirstNet's 700 MHz public safety spectrum, per our side-by-side comparison of it with the draft NPRM. The approved NPRM was released Friday. The approved NPRM also includes language making clear that during the SCS proceeding, "we will continue to consider filings made by interested parties, for example, requests for rule waiver, special temporary authority, and experimental authorization, relating to supplemental satellite coverage proposals, including those that do not meet the initial criteria we propose for SCS."
Eutelsat/OneWeb will mean a closer integration of the cost-effective bandwidth of geostationary satellite services with the low-latency performance of low earth orbit services, Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke told FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, per a docket 18-122 filing Friday. Berneke said the acquisition, announced last year (see 2207250041), has received all the needed regulatory approvals except France's -- which is likely in weeks -- and the U.S. Noting Eutelsat's interference concerns about Verizon use of cleared C-band spectrum (see 2302280009), Berneke urged FCC oversight into whether Verizon's plans line up with C-band order requirements. She also urged the FCC to open a window for satellite operators to update their C-band transition plans.
Eyeing lunar communications infrastructure as a service, Lockheed Martin seeks FCC sign-off for 230 robotic landers, vehicles, spacesuits, landing systems and handheld terminals to use on the moon's surface. In an International Bureau application Wednesday, LM said the fixed and mobile lunar surface stations would communicate with each other, the company's ParsecTM lunar orbit satellites and other satellites, and earth stations using the UHF, S, X and Ka bands. LM said it's also planning for a second phase of lunar deployment that would involve licenses for space manufacturing and lunar surface mining assets and a third phase that would include a fission power plant and lunar surface habitat. It said its planned Parsec communications network would provide connectivity between the Earth and moon. The initial lunar mission likely would provide services to NASA, though "various international space agencies and governments as well as commercial entities have expressed a need for these services," LM said. It anticipates that for its proposed lunar communications network, customers would buy time the same way they buy time for an earth station under a service agreement.
SES' SES-18 and -19 C-band satellites are scheduled for Friday launch, the company said Thursday. They're the company's fourth and fifth replacement satellites being launched as part of its clearing of the band, and will complete its C-band transition plan. SES said -18 is expected to start operations in June, and -19 will be collocated with SES-22.
Spire Global, meeting with 10th-floor FCC officials including Commissioner Nathan Simington, and with the International Bureau, urged an easier approval process for technically identical satellites to bring earth exploration satellite service rules in line with the rules for other satellite services (see 2303100032).
SpaceX's attempt to use the AWS-4 band and adjacent 2020-2025 MHz band for mobile satellite service direct to handsets (see 2302080001) would be "a grenade thrown at a carefully considered regulatory framework," Dish Network and EchoStar said in a petition to deny Tuesday. Giving SpaceX rights in the band that are superior to Dish's would essentially upend Dish's use of that band for its 5G network and harm EchoStar's deployment of a non-geostationary orbit system which will use 2 GHz spectrum for service links, said the petition. Spectrum sharing and competition are generally good, but co-frequency sharing by two different high-power mobile services "is not feasible and would result in harmful interference in operations," it said. SpaceX didn't comment Wednesday.
The FCC Space Bureau reorganization "should be up and running soon," with OMB having signed off and the FCC working with Congress to get its approval, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said at the Satellite Industry Association's annual leadership dinner Monday, per prepared remarks posted Tuesday. The U.S. at 2023's World Radiocommunication Conference will take actions "that broadcast to the world how important we believe [the space sector] is to our future," she said. Rosenworcel said the single network future NPRM on this week's agenda and its proposed framework for allowing transmissions between satellites and consumer handsets using only spectrum available on terrestrial networks "can kick start more innovation in the space economy while also expanding wireless coverage in remote, unserved, and underserved areas." While making mobile dead zones "a thing of the past ... we have an opportunity to bring our spectrum policies into the future and think about how we move past the binary choices between mobile spectrum on the one hand or satellite spectrum on the other," she said.
More than 42,000 satellites, probes and capsules are expected to be launched between now and 2023, up 19% from the 2022 10-year estimate of nearly 34,200, Teal Group said Monday. Last year saw 2,521 payloads launched, it said.
As part of Viasat's buy of Inmarsat, the satellite operators committed to a series of conditions such as complying with all applicable lawful interception and all court orders for lawfully authorized electronic surveillance. Per a filing last week with the FCC International Bureau, New Inmarsat also would commit to creating a cybersecurity plan and system security plan, both guided by the current NIST cybersecurity framework.
Globalstar's arguments against SpaceX using the 1.6/2.4 GHz band for direct-to-device service (see 2302280074) run contrary to the band allocation and Globalstar's license, SpaceX told the International Bureau last week. It also runs against the FCC's overall mobile satellite service goal of a competitive market with multiple co-frequency operators sharing spectrum, it said. Globalstar's Apple arrangement is an attempt "to privately auction frequencies that are shared, while reaping a windfall in the process," SpaceX said. SpaceX's assertions are "nothing new," Globalstar emailed Friday.