All C-band licensee objections to a relocation payment clearinghouse decision must be filed with the clearinghouse within 20 days of the invoice issuance following clearinghouse review of lump sum or reimbursement claims, the FCC Wireless Bureau said in a public notice Monday. The docket 21-333 PN detailed procedures for filing and processing of challenges to clearinghouse decisions.
Tariff classification rulings
OneWeb's satellite launches -- disrupted after Russia barred use of Russian rockets earlier this month -- will resume later this year on SpaceX rockets, OneWeb said Monday.
Dish Network representatives repeated the company's arguments that SpaceX's planned second-generation constellation would exceed equivalent power flux density limits (see 2203090006), in a call with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, per an International Bureau ex parte post Friday. SpaceX didn't comment.
Ukraine accounts for 26% of the 2022 downloads of SpaceX's Starlink app, intelligence firm 42Matters said Thursday. The app is used to help Starlink position its receivers. Ukrainians downloaded the app 90,878 times Feb. 21 to March 15, it said. Russia invaded Ukraine Feb. 24. Before then, downloads had averaged closer to 1,000 to 2,000 daily, only to surge to a peak of more than 17,000 March 6, it said.
Lynk has tested its satellite-delivered mobile service in five nations so far, connecting to phones of eight of the largest mobile network operators, it told the FCC International Bureau in an ex parte filing Wednesday. It said it plans to offer preliminary service -- supporting messaging and emergency alerts -- in 2022 and 2023, periodic service supporting use of mobile apps and push-to-talk the following two years, and full service supporting broadband data starting in 2025. Recapping a call with staffers to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, Lynk said it discussed its plans to move from its pending application for 10 satellites under the streamlined smallsat licensing process to a larger non-geostationary orbit constellation.
SES hopes to launch its SES-22 C-band replacement satellite in July, it told the FCC International Bureau Tuesday in an application seeking OK for its launch and operation. It said SES-22 would operate only in the 4-4.2 GHz portion of the band in the continental U.S., but in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band outside. It said SES-22 would replace the AMC-8 satellite and the C-band capacity of the AMC-4 satellite. The bureau on Tuesday approved launch of SES-18, -19, -20 and -21 C-band replacement satellites (see 2108130012).
Median download speeds for SpaceX's Starlink broadband service topped 100 Mbps in the U.S. in Q4 2021, Ookla said Wednesday. It said the median 104.97 Mbps was up from Q3's median 87.25 Mbps. Viasat median download speed was 21.81 Mbps in Q4, with HughesNet at 20.92, it said. Both geostationary operators' speeds were up from Q3, it said. It said Starlink download speeds vary widely around the U.S., from 191.08 Mbps in the Miami area to 64.95 in Columbia County, Oregon.
Lynk hopes to put up its proposed satellite-based mobile service constellation (see 2105120002) via launches in April, June, October and January 2023, and it's signing contracts with mobile network operators outside the U.S. based on having that 10-satellite constellation up, it told the FCC International Bureau this week. The satellite scheduled for April launch, Lynk Tower 1, is undergoing integration with a SpaceX rocket now in Cape Canaveral, Florida, it said. It said it's planning for two Ka-band ground sites in the U.S. and up to 24 elsewhere around the world.
Experimental license holders and broadband internet service providers need to pay FCC regulatory fees, Kepler, SES and Telesat told FCC officials, per a docket 21-190 ex parte filing posted Tuesday. The filing recapped meetings with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and staff from multiple agency offices and bureaus. The satellite operators also urged regulatory fees for equipment authorization holders and database administrators that charge fees to enable unlicensed operations. Those who benefit from Office of Engineering and Technology regulatory work should pay fees to support those activities, they said. The current fee structure puts a big burden on satellite operators that could undercut investment and hurt innovation, they said. OneWeb wasn't part of the meetings but backs the fee stance, they said.
NASA in its comments on SpaceX's pending second-generation constellation plans (see 2202090002) isn't trying to dissuade the FCC from approval but aims to protect its orbiting mission assets by showing the risks that come with big satellite concepts, NASA said in a commission filing Thursday. NASA said its recommendations for more analysis are to help the space community "identify and mitigate negative effects to the space environment, protect all parties’ assets, and enable commercial space activities." The agency said it will keep collaborating with SpaceX to allow data sharing and conjunction mitigation best practices. SpaceX didn't comment Friday.