Viasat Joins Amazon in Protesting SpaceX Proposal for Second-Gen Starlink

Amazon isn’t the only company opposed to SpaceX's second-gen Starlink proposal. Viasat, a rival satellite internet broadband provider, also filed a protest letter urging the Federal Communications Commission to dismiss SpaceX’s request. Like Amazon, Viasat claims SpaceX’s proposal for the second-generation Starlink network “runs afoul” of FCC rules for requesting clearance for two satellite configurations instead of one. SpaceX is already beaming high-speed internet to 100,000 customers through the first-generation Starlink network but has ambitions to eventually serve millions of users through a second-gen network that’ll involve nearly 30,000 orbital satellites. To build this, SpaceX has requested FCC clearance to secure two orbital configurations for the satellites, one to be used and one as a backup. However, Viasat claims past FCC actions show the Commission prohibits companies from requesting multiple satellite configurations in one application. In addition, Viasat cites an FCC rule that says applicants for one non-geostationary satellite orbit system are not permitted to file for another satellite license in the same frequency band.