Viasat Chair Lobbies Rosenworcel on Orbital Debris Rules

A large low-earth orbit constellation means magnitudes more risk than a single satellite, and licensing a mega constellation has to account for the total risk and not use rules and standards designed for single satellites, Viasat Executive Chairman Mark Dankberg told FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, per a docket 18-313 post Wednesday. Applying a single-satellite collision risk metric separately to each satellite in a mega constellation "clearly would sanction unacceptably high risk," Viasat said. It urged trajectory spatial sharing rules and consideration of potential environmental impacts.