Chairwoman Rosenworcel Remarks to the Global Aerospace Summit

The Federal Communications Commission has been ramping up our work to promote space-based innovation. To keep pace with the increase in both the complexity and number of applications for space services before the agency, the [FCC] will vote on new rules to streamline our satellite policies to expedite the processing of space and earth station applications [which] will promote competition and innovation by making it easier for new companies to enter the market. I also have put before my colleagues a plan to provide long-term regulatory certainty by [ensuring] all operators can access the spectrum they need for successful commercial space launches [via additional] airwaves for vital links to launch vehicles, [and a simpler process] for new competitors to get reliable access to the spectrum they need. At the same time, I am working with my colleagues to unlock the kind of space-based technology that supported the Maui fire rescue effort, [as we] are on the cusp of a much broader effort to bring together terrestrial wireless and satellite capabilities to accomplish what neither network can do on its own. The FCC is developing a new regulatory framework to support direct satellite-to-smartphone communications [in what] we call the Single Network Future. Our approach is designed to make it easier for satellite operators to collaborate with wireless carriers to access their terrestrial spectrum and fill gaps in coverage from space to the phone in your pocket. The [FCC] is also [working on] in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing (ISAM) capabilities [by] exploring ways [that communications can enable] it [to] help us repair and refuel satellites in space, assemble whole systems in orbit, or even build entire new industries that advance our scientific frontiers and national security. [Finally, the FCC] put in place rules that reduced by 80 percent the amount of time operators regulated by the FCC have to deorbit retired satellites. This is big because it helps reduce the risk of collisions that can cause space communications failures.