Globalstar at Heart of US/China Harmful Interference Regulatory Squabble

Globalstar is at the center of a regulatory tussle between the FCC and Chinese government over interference with Globalstar's HIBLEO-4 satellite system. The culprit seemingly was China's BeiDou/Compass global navigation satellite system. Correspondence between the commission and China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) shows a back-and-forth disagreement about BeiDou. We obtained 142 pages of that correspondence -- letters and emails between the two -- via a Freedom of Information Request filed with the FCC in October. The request was fulfilled at the end of February. Our request was for all written communications with MIIT Jan. 1-Oct. 19, 2023.

Beyond HIBLEO-4 issues, the correspondence shows frequent discussion between the agencies about numerous satellite systems filed with the ITU by one of the countries, expressing concerns that the other subsequently raised about harmful interference and the need for that satellite system to coordinate.

For example, the FCC Space Bureau wrote MIIT in a July 7 letter about BeiDou/Compass interference in 1610-1626.5 MHz disrupting message traffic for Globalstar's HIBLEO-4, eating up its transponder power and limiting the capacity and dynamic range available to HIBLEO-4 services. The bureau asked that the source of the interference be determined and steps taken to eliminate it.

"It is hard to conclude that the interference received by HIBLEO-4 is from the COMPASS/BEIDOU system," MIIT Bureau of Radio Regulation Deputy Director General Lin Xiao replied in a letter dated Sept. 26. “For more than two decades, the COMPASS/BEIDOU satellite system has been working in accordance with the requirements of relevant ITU regulations and has been providing stable ... service since 2003. We did not see any interference complaint. We hope we can address any potential difficulty between the two systems based on good will and kind cooperation.”

Globalstar has engaged with BeiDou’s operator, and that operator confirmed interference coming from BeiDou, the Space Bureau responded Oct. 26. Pointing to claims BeiDou has operated for two decades without interference complaints, the FCC said that interference “has always been present albeit at a level that was tolerable." That interference in recent months “has significantly increased” to the point it’s significantly degrading the HIBLEO-4 system, the agency said. It said that BeiDou's mitigation actions in 2023 to reduce or eliminate interference didn't end the problem. “The HIBLEO-4 system is being adversely impacted on a daily basis,” the bureau said. Neither the FCC nor Globalstar commented.

Globalstar is in the midst of replenishing and replacing its HIBLEO-4 satellites (see 2308070005). It told bureau staffers in February that it remains on track to deploy replacements next year. It said replacements “are critical to its continued provision of service in the United States and globally, as these satellites will sustain the service quality and geographic reach” of its mobile satellite service system.

Numerous other Chinese satellite systems raised FCC concerns in 2023. In the nearly 42-week span that our FOIA covered, the FCC wrote MIIT 30 separate times about Chinese systems registered with the ITU and how they might pose interference risks to U.S. satellites. Spire's Lemur-2-3 constellation was a frequent source of discussion between the regulators. The FCC wrote MIIT on Jan. 5, Feb. 3, Feb. 16, March 14, April 13, May 10, May 23, June 6 and June 14 -- each time about a different Chinese satellite network that could pose an interference problem to Lemur-2-3. Spire didn't comment. The bureau also wrote MIIT multiple times about different Chinese systems and their transmissions potentially adversely affecting a variety of earth observation satellite system downlinks in the 8025-8400 MHz band. "Please inform us how you plan to protect our satellite operations in this band," the FCC said in those letters.

On the other hand, MIIT raised concerns with the FCC about interference affecting Chinese satellites. In the span covered by our FOIA, MIIT wrote the FCC more than half a dozen times about different U.S. satellite operations and the potential for them to cause interference. These messages were separate from those concerning HIBLEO-4 correspondence.

Many letters back and forth between two countries isn't uncommon, according to Mindel De La Torre, former FCC International Bureau chief, now Omnispace chief regulatory and international strategy officer. "This is very common in the official ITU coordination process -- especially with two countries such as China and the United States that have so many satellite filings at the ITU," she told us in an email.