Handling of Overlapping Orbits, Foreign-Owned Operators Gets Disagreement

lack of clarity on how the FCC might address a large constellation in an altitude where another constellation is authorized to operate could chill competition and discourage investment, necessitating requiring later-filed constellations maintain a 1-kilometer orbital separation from an earlier-filed one. It said the record showed clear desire among operators for orbital separation rules. Viasat said even other parties agreeing with Kuiper that orbital overlap could be a problem don't sign onto Kuiper's proposed fix. It said the FCC should address overlaps case by case, evaluating non-geostationary orbit system applications to see whether overlap is going to be an issue and taking corrective action when necessary. Viasat said the FCC, in looking at SpaceX's license modification application, should evaluate whether the orbital tolerances the company proposes are unreasonably high and inefficient, and whether tighter tolerances would help competitive entry by other operators later. SpaceX said the current record shows the exemption to orbital debris rules for foreign-licensed satellite operators resulted in uncompetitive behavior: If the FCC doesn't ax the exemption, establish a sufficiently transparent foreign-licensing regime to invoke the exemption. Kepler said its own experience is proof foreign-licensed systems aren't held to a different standard. It said foreign-licensed operators have to show their orbital debris mitigation plans to the licensing nation, as well as satisfy FCC requirements to operate in the U.S. Kepler said Kuiper's petition would set up a “first-to-file” precedence over orbital slots for large non-geostationary orbit operators that would arbitrarily exclude small satellite operators.