FCC Defends SpaceX Satellite Plans At DC Circ.

[Elderberry]

LAW360 By Khorri Atkinson 9/22/2021

The Federal Communications Commission denied claims that it failed to properly assess the risks to internet and broadcast service interference and violated federal environmental law when it gave SpaceX permission to deploy thousands of broadband satellites closer to Earth than initially planned, saying the accusations by Dish Network and Viasat at the D.C. Circuit are meritless and warrant dismissal.

The FCC urged the appellate court in a brief Tuesday to reject the satellite-industry peers' bid to vacate an April order authorizing SpaceX to bring its Starlink fleet of satellites to low-earth orbit closer than originally planned, arguing that the commission has broad authority to modify licenses for satellite communication services if its action will promote the public interest.

Allowing SpaceX to tweak its licenses will both help to improve broadband access in remote and underserved areas and mitigate the potential that SpaceX's satellites would collide with other objects and create orbital debris, the FCC brief contended.

More: https://www.law360.com/telecom/articles/1424070/fcc-defends-spacex-satellite-plans-at-dc-circ-

[Smokin Joe]

Well, reducing orbital debris is a good thing. It's a junkyard up there now.

From https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/news/orbital_debris.html

There are approximately 23,000 pieces of debris larger than a softball orbiting the Earth. They travel at speeds up to 17,500 mph, fast enough for a relatively small piece of orbital debris to damage a satellite or a spacecraft. There are half a million pieces of debris the size of a marble or larger (up to 0.4 inches, or 1 centimeter) or larger, and approximately 100 million pieces of debris about .04 inches (or one millimeter) and larger. There is even more smaller micrometer-sized (0.000039 of an inch in diameter) debris.