Starlink Second-Gen Conditions Not Relevant to Kuiper: Amazon

SpaceX's application for review seeking to have the authorization for Amazon's Kuiper be amended to include conditions on second-generation Starlinks (see 2302240027) raises arguments the FCC already addressed and rejected in the Kuiper orbital debris modification order, Amazon told the International Bureau Wednesday. The application gives no reason "to reverse those well-founded conclusions," it said. Kuiper and SpaceX aren't similarly situated in relevant ways, it said. The object-years condition imposed on SpaceX reflected the thousands of satellites it has in orbit, while Kuiper "has no comparable number," it said. The second-gen licensing was in tranches to monitor operational issues given SpaceX's "unprecedentedly large request," while Kuiper is a tenth the size and in line with previous FCC authorizations where there was no such limit, it said.