SpaceX Again Seeks OK for Second-Gen VHF Tracking Beacons

Allowing SpaceX to add very-high frequency telemetry, tracking and command beacons to its second-generation Starlink satellites would give them redundant TT&C capabilities, which would allow better tracking of Starlinks, the company said in an FCC International Bureau special temporary authority application Friday. The improved tracking "will benefit all operators in the instance of a conjunction or an anomaly," it said. The commission, in its approval earlier this month of part of the second-gen constellation (see 2212010052), deferred decision on Starlink's proposed tracking beacons. In a letter posted Friday, Dish Network said SpaceX was deliberately dragging its feet on a request for data on the validation software used to show its second-generation constellation's compliance with equivalent power flux density limits. SpaceX doesn't need the 30 days it says it will respond by, Dish said. "SpaceX needs that time only for the purpose of withholding the information from parties entitled to it," Dish said. SpaceX didn't comment.