Tomorrow Companies Gets Partial Constellation Approval, With Some SpaceX-Sought Conditions

The FCC Space Bureau has again approved satellite plans while imposing some conditions sought by SpaceX. In an order in Monday's Daily Digest, the bureau signed off on the Tomorrow Companies' plans for a quartet of non-geostationary orbit weather satellites (see 2212020001). The approval included conditions akin to what the agency imposed on SpaceX's second-generation constellation. For example, if the cumulative projected lifetime of Tomorrow's failed satellites exceeds 100 years, it can't deploy additional satellites without the commission approving a license modification that updates Tomorrow's orbital debris mitigation plan with ways it will address the failure rate. The agency also conditioned Tomorrow's approval on requiring coordination with NASA, including operator-to-operator coordination of physical operations. The bureau said it was deferring action on the remaining 14 satellites in the company's request. SpaceX has urged the agency to put similar conditions on numerous operators as were imposed on its second-generation constellation, and the agency earlier this month imposed some SpaceX-sought conditions on Planet Labs satellites (see 2405130045).