FCC Streamlines Satellite Application Processing

The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules to expedite its processing of space and earth station applications to meet the growing needs of today's commercial space sector. These new rules also serve to lay the groundwork for the Space Bureau’s new Transparency Initiative, which will provide information and guidance, in a variety of forms, to potential applicants in order to prepare them to successfully obtain authorizations for space and earth stations—that is, satellites and the ground-based transmitters communicating with them. This initiative will reduce administrative burdens on both applicants and FCC staff and further expedite the processing of applications. Further, the new rules take concrete steps to expedite the initial processing of applications for authority to operate space and earth stations under part 25 of the FCC's rules. This new Report and Order establishes timeframes for placing space and earth station applications on notice for public comment, permits applicants to apply for authority to operate in frequencies in bands where there is not already an international allocation for the satellite services to be provided, provides flexibility for non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) licensees to have more than one unbuilt system without facing potential dismissal of their applications and streamlines processing of earth station operators’ requests to add space stations as points of communication.