Space Bureau Transparency Initiative Focusing Next on Timelines Guidance

Expect to see guidance from the FCC Space Bureau in coming weeks regarding satellite application timelines and on earth station applications, bureau staff said Wednesday as it put on an open house regarding its transparency initiative. That will be followed in 2024 by guidance on special temporary authority applications and on the ITU, they said. Bureau Chief Julie Kearney told us afterward an overhaul of the ICFS system to improve usability should roll out sometime next year at the latest. Commissioners approved the transparency initiative in September (see 2309210055) and the agency last month issued guidance on satellite license processes, terms and costs (see 2310230062). Kearney said the initiative's aim is to reduce the administrative burden on applicants and agency staffers and speed up application processing. Kearney said applications before the agency are growing both in number and complexity, seeing close to double the number of satellite applications this year as in 2019, with earth station applications twice what they were in 2017. As part of the transparency initiative, the bureau has put together a basic 101 about satellite license processes, timelines and costs regarding the satellite license process, a Part 25 license and market access checklist, and a primer on smallsat and small satellite licensing. Bureau Chief Technologist Whitney Lohmeyer said also in the works are guidance about orbital debris issues, which should come next year, and resources around the coordination process. The event also saw Merissa Velez, chief-Satellite Programs and Policy Division, and Franco Hinojosa, chief-Earth Station Licensing Division, fielding a variety of what bureau staffers said were commonly asked questions: how soon should an application be filed for going on a rideshare mission (if the launch is scheduled, as soon as possible, because processing times can vary, depending on issues like coordination, Velez said) and why earth station licenses are needed if one already has a terminal equipment authorization. (The authorization covers operation of the device; the license allows use of it to communicate, Hinojosa said.)