US Could Face International Pushback at WRC-19, O'Rielly Warns
The U.S. could be headed down the same unproductive path for the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference that it trod at WRC-15, when it faced international pushback against its positions, FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly said at a Federalist Society event Thursday. He said there needs to be more cooperation on a U.S. position to avoid that outcome. He's "incredibly troubled" by nations that act on parochial interests and try to block the U.S. for competitive purposes.
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The FCC and International Bureau are continuing work on making the satellite registration and approval process easier, O'Rielly said. Being flagged in other countries sometimes can be easier "and that [gap] shouldn't exist," he said. EchoStar Senior Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Jennifer Manner said the U.S. satellite rules regime isn't as flexible as some other countries and satellites are more regulated than any other service the FCC oversees. Some nations are requiring operators to locate gateways and data centers in those counties, meaning the U.S. is losing facilities that otherwise would be located here, she said.
The U.S. still is catching up from international traffic in arms regulations from close to a decade ago that were overly prescriptive, effectively killing communications satellite exports and putting out of business many space component suppliers, said Northrop Grumman Director-Government Relations Jim Armor. A defense of the U.S. space regulatory regime came from Maureen McLaughlin, Iridium vice president-public policy. She said the FCC is "very efficient and highly functioning" in dealings with the company on approvals for its Next constellation.
Lockheed Martin Vice President-Technology Policy and Regulation Jennifer Warren said the White House's space policy directive issued in May on deregulation (see 1805240031) is resulting in agency responses. She said the FAA is working on an NPRM on streamlining launch licensing and restructuring at the Commerce Department, with the space industry having input early on.
More government focus on space situational awareness and space traffic management will accomplish only so much because of a lack of better "attribution," or knowing the ownership and purpose of items in orbit, Armor said. He said lack of a better handle on attribution will hinder emerging space businesses like satellite repair or salvage.
About six months away from Northrup Grumman's anticipated first launch of a mission extension vehicle (MEV) to dock with an Intelsat satellite, the regulations and licensing for the mission remain in limbo, Armor said. He said various agencies "have bent over backwards" and there's a consensus they want a U.S. company to take on this mission first and set good precedent, he said. The FCC has licensed the command and control frequencies for the mission, and FAA payload review and NOAA licensure of the MEV's cameras are in progress, he said.
Given the satellite mega constellations being contemplated, the FCC likely will need to revisit rules on in-line interference, O'Rielly said. "We've not exactly found a good resolution."
National Space Council Senior Policy Adviser Michael Beavin said the Trump administration is “taking a whole of government approach" to streamlining the regulatory process for space activity. He said small satellites have a short timeline from design to launch, but the regulatory process -- particularly at the ITU -- remains "slow and cumbersome." He said smallsats "face a confusing environment" at WRC-19, especially since the mission life of a smallsat could wrap up long before the ITU coordination process does. He said the NSC will send representatives to WRC-19.
Satellite interests aired concerns about safeguarding spectrum. Manner said some spectrum is difficult to share, such as when user terminals are widely deployed, so industry needs some spectrum that's not used on a co-primary basis with terrestrial. The FCC spectrum frontiers order put aside some millimeter wave bands strictly for satellite needs, but it's not taking the same approach at WRC, she said. Added Warren, the satellite industry is facing a big challenge from an effort to fragment spectrum that the satellite industry worked hard to harmonize globally.
One hindrance to increased calls for spectrum sharing is no common understanding of that, Beavin said. Some services are inherently incompatible unless separated, sometimes widely, and segmented band sharing is unlikely to work and could run against optimized spectrum use, he said. Dynamic spectrum allocation and artificial intelligence could solve some spectrum problems, he said, noting the possibility some day of real-time evaluation and management of spectrum use. Such technology isn't ready yet, and various constraints require gradual transition, he said.