SpaceX Seeks FCC Approval for 22,488 Pending Starlinks

Having received FCC approval for 7,500 of its second-generation satellites in 2022 (see 2212010052), SpaceX is now asking the FCC to green-light 22,488 satellites the agency deferred on. Those additional satellites, plus "several small-but-meaningful updates" to the orbital configuration of the already-approved second-gen low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, would "improve space sustainability, better respond to evolving demand, and more efficiently share spectrum with other spectrum users," it told the FCC Space Bureau in an application posted Tuesday.

Among those updates SpaceX is seeking, it asked for lower orbital shells for its 7,500 second-gen satellites, going from shells of 525-535 km to 475-485 km and lower minimum elevation angles. It said 6G will meld mobile and fixed services as well as terrestrial and satellite networks, and asked for its second-gen authorization to be modified so that it can use the Ka, V and E bands for either mobile or fixed satellite applications where the U.S. or International Table of Frequency Allocations allows such dual use and where the antenna parameters would be the same. That step "would permit significant additional flexibility to meet the diverse connectivity and capacity needs of consumer, enterprise, industrial, and government users," SpaceX said.

In an accompanying amendment request, SpaceX also sought additional uplink and downlink frequencies. It said the added frequencies will mean better upload and download speeds of its earth stations and support 5G and emerging 6G networks. While the FCC has authorized SpaceX's V-band use on only its 7,500 approved satellites, the company said it was seeking authorization to operate V-band payloads on every satellite in its 29,988-satelite second-gen LEO constellation.

Of the authorized LEOs, nearly 3,000 have launched, SpaceX said. Those, plus the company's first-gen satellites, serve more than 4 million subscribers globally, it said. When the agency approved the 7,500, it said permitting that smaller number "would allow continued monitoring of deployment ... prior to consideration of the much larger number of satellites SpaceX requests over the long term."

Space and spectrum consultant Tim Farrar told us that SpaceX's "kitchen sink" applications cover a variety of things the company wants, but none of it is probably an immediate high priority for the company or the FCC. He said both parties are likely more focused on SpaceX's pending application to provide direct-to-device connectivity (see 2302080001), which likely will be dealt with in coming weeks. He said it's unlikely the FCC is feeling huge pressure to move on the pending 22,000+ Starlink satellites as it will likely take a year or more for SpaceX to get the rest of the 7,500 into orbit. Farrar said the agency also has the option of dealing with SpaceX's various second-gen system requests piecemeal because some could entail fights and others are potentially objectionable.