(Credit: SpaceX)
SpaceX's plan to launch an additional 15,000 satellites for its Starlink cellular system has sparked opposition and concern from rival companies and environmentalists, who are weighing in after the FCC opened a public comment period on the proposed constellation.
Currently, SpaceX has FCC clearance to orbit about 12,000 satellites. Its cellular Starlink service uses approximately 650 satellites, but it faces bandwidth constraints. The new constellation promises to upgrade the service, enabling it to beam 5G connectivity to phones worldwide for improved video calls and high-speed downloads.
In total, however, SpaceX wants about 49,000 satellites in Earth’s orbit, if you consider all of its satellite plans for Starlink, according to rival satellite provider Viasat.
“This proposed expansion of SpaceX's operating authority would give [SpaceX] an even greater ability and incentive to foreclose other operators from accessing and using limited orbital and spectrum resources on a competitive basis,” Viasat wrote in a letter to the FCC.
(Credit: satellitemap.space)Another rival provider, Globalstar, which powers the satellite services on Apple iPhones, also chimed in. The company is opposed to the request because SpaceX's satellites propose using a swath of the 1.6GHz radio spectrum that Globalstar also uses for its own satellites.
Although SpaceX reached a $17 billion deal last year to tap EchoStar’s licensed spectrum for its cellular Starlink service, Globalstar is flagging how the same satellites would tap the 1.6GHz band outside the US. This would not violate Globalstar’s operating rights to the spectrum and threaten to create significant radio interference, the company argues.
“SpaceX’s failure in the September Application to provide a legitimate interference analysis is not surprising. As Globalstar has pointed out repeatedly, new operator entry into the Big LEO [low-Earth orbit] band is technically infeasible,” the company wrote in its letter to the FCC.
Another vocal opponent is DarkSky International, an anti-light pollution group, which is urging the FCC to scrutinize the environmental impact of launching 15,000 satellites. The group is particularly concerned about how the satellites will eventually reenter the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up, potentially releasing chemicals that are harmful to the ozone layer, although research on the topic remains limited.
"SpaceX’s proposed satellites will dump millions of pounds of pollution into the atmosphere, causing significant environmental impacts both in space and on the ground," DarkSky International alleges.
(Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Even SpaceX rival Blue Origin submitted some comments to the FCC. The company wasn’t explicitly against the 15,000 satellite plan. However, Blue Origin noted that the large constellation will orbit closer to Earth, at around 330 kilometers, raising potential risks that the satellites could move into the path of launched rockets.
“The very dense vLEO [very low-Earth orbit] environment proposed by SpaceX—if not accompanied by institutionalized review and coordination procedures—risks imposing unnecessary launch-availability constraints,” Blue Origin said.
The company is asking the FCC to take steps to protect the predictable launch windows and consider requiring SpaceX to deploy the satellites in increments, “with each subsequent increment authorized contingent on evidence that launch operators will not be materially constrained in their ability to conduct missions,” it wrote.
Other companies and lobbying groups that oppose SpaceX’s 15,000 satellites to some extent include Iridium, Ligado, and the Mobile Satellite Services Association. But the pushback isn’t a surprise. SpaceX has faced similar resistance over the years when requesting FCC permission to expand Starlink through new satellites and radio frequency access.
The big question is whether the pushback sways the FCC. The Commission's Republican chairman, Brendan Carr, is a supporter of SpaceX and has made it a priority for the US to dominate in satellite and space activities, countering China’s own ambitions. Under Carr, the FCC is already moving to exempt large satellite constellations from environmental review.
SpaceX hasn’t responded to the opposition yet. But the company has argued that its cellular Starlink service is already delivering to users by ending cellular dead zones. In addition, SpaceX has been making an effort to ensure its Starlink satellites orbit safely around the planet and burn up in the atmosphere without causing harm.