Federal regulators just approved a major upgrade to satellite internet services, ditching a decades-old rule that restricted how low-Earth orbit satellites could transmit signals to avoid interfering with other satellites.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted on Thursday to modernize its satellite spectrum-sharing rules, which could increase capacity for space-based broadband services by up to sevenfold. “This is a major step toward enhancing the satellite broadband experience for millions of Americans by enabling faster speeds, lower costs, and greater reliability,” the FCC wrote in a statement.
Orbital revamp
The recent announcement comes as a revamp of the Equivalent Power Flux Density (EPFD) framework, developed in the late 1990s. The original framework was designed to prevent radio signal interference caused by satellites in low-Earth orbit, or non-geostationary orbit (NGSO), from affecting higher-orbiting geostationary satellites (GSO). As a result, it limited the amount of energy transmitted by satellites in low-Earth orbit to ground-based equipment, thereby slowing broadband speeds for consumers.
SpaceX currently operates the largest satellite internet constellation in low-Earth orbit. Naturally, the company stood firmly against the original framework. In a filing submitted to the FCC in March, SpaceX argued that the current framework “shackles next-generation satellite operations” while protecting “outdated GSO systems” at the expense of consumers.
On the other hand, Viasat, which operates a fleet of satellites in geostationary orbit, warned that loosening the restrictions on lower-orbiting satellites would generate large amounts of interference and further SpaceX’s monopoly in the market.
At the end of the day, the FCC opted to upgrade its regulations, arguing that modern-day satellites are designed in a way that makes it easier to share the spectrum. “Such limits were based on theoretical designs for NGSO systems of that era, long before modern advancements were developed for the NGSO constellations currently in orbit,” the FCC wrote.
Faster internet
The FCC based its decision on tests carried out by SpaceX, which showed that a low-Earth-orbiting system could increase the number of satellites serving a specific region by 700% without causing much interference, PC Mag reported.
The increased number of satellites would boost capacity and provide faster broadband speeds for consumers, according to the FCC. It could also allow operators of smaller constellations to provide the same quality service, thereby potentially lowering the price of satellite internet services.
“One way to think about it is where you might have had one connection to a satellite before, you could have connections to seven or more satellites at a time,” Brendan Carr, FCC chairman, said at the agency’s meeting Thursday, according to Broadband Breakfast.
The new rules don’t just benefit SpaceX alone; several other companies are getting in on the action of launching satellites to space to beam down internet on the ground. Amazon is in the process of launching 3,000 satellites as part of its Project Kuiper constellation, while Texas-based AST SpaceMobile is building the first space-based cellular broadband network in low-Earth orbit.
“Modern satellite technology like Amazon Leo can deliver gigabit speeds to rural and remote areas, but these rules limited that potential,” Brian Huseman, Amazon’s vice president for public policy, wrote in support of the FCC’s decision. “This step forward will help provide internet access for underserved communities.”
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