O3b Sees Repeated Criticisms, OneWeb Defense of Added Satellites Plan

Critics of O3b's pending market access grant, which would add 70 satellites to its 20-satellite medium earth orbit system, were unbowed by the company's arguments that most of their appraisals were off base (see 2207080003), per FCC International Bureau filings Tuesday. Amazon repeated its case that the FCC clarify how its rules apply to phased systems, including the interference protection those systems receive, and ensure that at minimum any expanded non-geostationary orbit system with earlier processing round status doesn't significantly increase the potential for interference. Viasat said rather than just demonstrate it meets the agency's orbital safety guidelines, O3b should need to show that grant of its application would serve the public interest such as by addressing additional sources of risk like aggregate collision risk. With O3b now asking the FCC to hold in abeyance the part of its application seeking inter-satellite links in the 19.4-19.6 GHz band, Iridium said its opposition to that part of the application need not be considered. It said O3b questioning whether the proposed links could interfere with Iridium's co-channel feeder links didn't take into account the potential for aggregate interference. OneWeb, backing O3b, said the argument by Amazon's Kuiper that since O3b wants to add satellites, the constellation should move from the 2016 processing round to the 2020 one "is contrary to Commission precedent and common sense." Systems authorized in a processing round "logically require a means by which to modify their system without forfeiting their protections; and the Commission’s rules and precedent afford them exactly that," it said.