Kuiper, SpaceX Back Shorter Disposal Time, With Caveats

Amazon's Kuiper and SpaceX back a reduction of the 25-year post-mission disposal requirement if the proposal on the FCC's Sept. 29 commissioners' meeting agenda (see 2209080057) is tweaked. Representatives of Amazon's Kuiper told aides to FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington there should be exceptions for some failure scenarios that prevent deorbit and reentry maneuvers, per a docket 18-313 post Monday. SpaceX representatives, meeting with an aide to Commissioner Brendan Carr, said the agency doesn't need to require satellite operators to file a modification when a license or market access grant doesn't already specify a five-year disposal because it would inundate agency staff with filings. They said ambiguous language in the draft order about possibly different post-mission disposal requirements someday for mega constellations "hangs an unnecessary cloud of uncertainty over the industry."