Satellite

In 2020, the Federal Communications Commission committed to providing Starlink, a satellite internet network operating in 40 countries by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, with $885.5 million to expand broadband in unserved rural areas of the United States. But in August 2022, the FCC announced with almost no explanation that Starlink would receive nothing.

Pressure is growing for the US to develop a plan to quickly build internet lifelines for people living in conflict zones or under repressive regimes. The absence of a broadband strategy has led to a reliance on the ad hoc goodwill of private companies, such as Elon Musk's donation of Starlink satellite to provide internet service in Ukraine. Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr said that the US needs both the ability to quickly deploy internet networks and surge the production of censorship-circumvention online tools in authoritarian countries. Rep.

As the battle over the use of the 12.2 GHz to 12.7 GHz rages, the 5G for 12 GHz Coalition once again said that the Federal Communication Commission should change its rules and allow terrestrial 5G transmission in this frequency band. Current rules allow for downlink only use for satellite TV. The push for 12 GHz began in October 2020 with a letter to then-FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. Since that time, incumbents AT&T and SpaceX have opposed the shared spectrum use on grounds that terrestrial 5G would interfere with their services, disrupting transmissions to customers.

The decades-old satellite industry is setting its sights on a target that until lately looked unreachable: the everyday smartphone. Better technology has convinced a who’s-who of aerospace stalwarts—plus some startups barely a few years old—to develop satellite networks that can talk to smartphones and other small gadgets on the ground.

Hurricane Ian took out its fair share of towers in Florida; according to the Federal Communications Commission, nearly a fifth of the cellular sites in its path was put out of service at one point. Many citizens were unable to call for help or to reassure their loved ones that they’d survived the storm. While the need for wired and cellular infrastructure won’t be going away anytime soon, we’re heading toward a future where it’ll be possible to communicate with loved ones and rescue personnel in other ways.

The satellite companies Eutelsat and OneWeb are pushing the benefits of a proposed merger whereby the shareholders of each company would hold 50% of the Eutelsat shares. They say that combined they could focus on the broadband satellite connectivity market by offering the first global combined geostationary orbit (GEO) and low-earth orbit (LEO) infrastructure. If the merger between OneWeb and Eutelsat is allowed, the companies say they will begin working together on the design of OneWeb’s Gen 2 LEO constellation. Eutelsat and OneWeb say they have a clear roadmap for the integration of their

One of the most interesting aspects of serving broadband from low-orbit satellites is that it brings issues related to space into the broadband discussion. There are two recent events that highlight our new focus on low-earth orbit satellites. The first is a piece of legislation introduced by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), and Roger Wicker (R-MS). The legislation is called the Orbital Sustainability (ORBITS) Act.

After Elon Musk said his Starlink satellite-internet system was activated in Iran on Sept. 23, two men climbed onto the tiled roof of a residence in the Iranian city of Ahvaz and aimed a Starlink terminal into the sky. A faint signal was detected by the device for several seconds, then it disappeared. The men were seeking to help an Iranian protest movement struggling under a government crackdown on online communication, said Saeed Souzangar, a network engineer and one of the Iranian men.

In August 2022, the Federal Communications Commission denied the SpaceX (Starlink) bid to receive $885 million over ten years through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). The FCC went on to say in the order that there were several technical reasons for the Starlink rejection. Starlink appealed the FCC ruling. Current federal grant rules don’t allow federal subsidies to be given to any area that is slated to get another federal broadband subsidy. This has meant that the RDOF areas have been off-limits to other federal grants since the end of 2020.

SpaceX sent the message to the Federal Communications Commission after Globalstar—which is powering the iPhone 14’s satellite connectivity—urged the FCC to reject SpaceX's request for access to the 1.6/2.4GHz spectrum, which it also uses for its own satellite services. SpaceX plans on using the radio bands to power a mobile version of its Starlink satellite internet service capable of beaming data to cellular dead zones.