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TAMPA, Fla. — The Federal Communications Commission voted Oct. 28 to propose creating a modular “licensing assembly line” that would overhaul its satellite application process to accelerate reviews and cut red tape.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the Space Modernization for the 21st Century Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which will undergo a 45-day public comment period once published in the Federal Register, will help the regulator “match the scale and dynamism of today’s space economy.”
Carr described the NPRM as the centerpiece of the “Space Month” campaign he outlined Oct. 6 to strengthen U.S. space leadership amid mounting competition from China, despite an ongoing government shutdown.
“Starting with our Space Month agenda this October, we will be thinking more ambitiously and revisit our rules from first principles to ensure that America is the regulatory forum of choice for space innovators,” he said during the FCC’s Oct. 28 open meeting.
The NPRM would replace the FCC’s long-standing Part 25 satellite regulations with a Part 100 written from the ground up for today’s commercial space environment.
The regulator outlined several other reforms aimed at streamlining approvals and improving predictability for operators:
- Set clear standards for when applications qualify for fast-track approval or require deeper review
- Simplify procedures for non-geostationary (NGSO) constellations to improve efficiency
- Ease financial bond requirements, removing them for some low-risk NGSO operators
- Extend license terms for most satellites and Earth stations to 20 years
- Allow more minor modifications without prior FCC approval
- Shift to a predominantly nationwide Earth-station license approach to reduce paperwork and speed deployments
- Require operators to share space situational awareness data to enhance safety
- Eliminate obsolete or duplicative rules as part of the FCC’s “Delete, Delete, Delete” initiative
In a separate vote, the FCC also advanced a proposal to revise siting rules for Earth stations operating in high-frequency upper microwave (UMFUS) bands, aiming to make it easier for companies to build and license new satellite ground infrastructure.
“We’re confident that the changes we propose in this item will help Earth stations and terrestrial 5G operators use these frequency bands more intensively, while living side by side in their operations,” Carr said.
The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) welcomed the FCC’s actions.
“The proposed rule changes will greatly expedite the licensing process and provide for better utilization of some of the frequency bands available to the industry,” SIA president Tom Stroup said in a statement.
“We look forward to working with the FCC staff to finalize and implement these proposed rule changes.”
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