UPDATE The FCC is fighting Viasat’s efforts to persuade a federal court to overturn an agency order allowing a Viasat competitor to deploy communications satellites in a manner that the Commission says will expand affordable, reliable wireless broadband service in underserved and rural areas in the United States. The agency made its arguments this week in a filing with a federal appeals court.
In the order under review, in April, the FCC concluded that granting SpaceX’s request to modify its licenses to permit some of its authorized satellites to operate at a lower orbital altitude would be in the public interest because it would help mitigate the risks posed by orbital debris while expanding broadband to underserved areas. “This Court has previously recognized the ‘major challenge’ this country faces ‘to ensure that the speed, capacity, and accessibility of our wireless networks keeps pace with’ the ‘skyrocketing’ need for broadband,” said the FCC.
Viasat, a competing satellite operator to SpaceX, seeks to stay the Order pending appeal. It contends the Commission failed to appropriately examine the environmental effects of Space X’s license modification under the National Environmental Policy Act. The FCC argues it “closely examined” and reasonably rejected Viasat’s claims. It asserts Viasat has not justified the “extraordinary remedy” of a stay pending appeal.
Inside Towers reported Viasat took the Commission to court to try and stop the agency from allowing more SpaceX Starlink satellites to launch.
The FCC originally approved a 4,409-satellite constellation, which included 2,825 satellites in orbits of 1,100 to 1,300 kilometers and 1,584 satellites at 550 kilometers. In April, the agency okayed a SpaceX application to modify that license, moving the satellites in the higher orbits to 550 kilometers and adjusting the size of the overall constellation to 4,408 satellites, Inside Towers reported. At the time, SpaceX said it sought the modifications to reduce latency, or signal lag, between space and the ground and enhance the customer experience.
Viasat gave the FCC until the end of the day on June 1 to stay the April license modification for SpaceX. It said if that didn’t happen, it would take the agency to court — and it did.
Viasat told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit it faces several harms from the SpaceX license modifications, including the risk of collisions with its own satellites and time and money spent to avoid those risks. It called the SpaceX constellation “environmentally irresponsible” and said Viasat could suffer injury from SpaceX competing directly against Viasat for satellite broadband services. Viasat targets an early 2022 launch for its service.
The FCC tells the court that Viasat is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its case, saying the agency considered the arguments in detail and found “insufficient evidence” to negate SpaceX’s license mods. The Commission also says Viasat is relying on “speculative assertions” of mostly economic harm that don’t show it has a case, “much less show irreparable injury” that justifies a stay.
A stay is not warranted, claims the FCC, because of the harm it would impose on SpaceX and to the public interest in advancing satellite broadband service to remote or underserved areas. However, the FCC does not object to Viasat’s alternative request to expedite its appeal. That, asserts the agency, would enable a prompt review of Viasat’s claims “without harming the interest of third parties and of the public,” it tells the court.
The Commission asks the court to deny Viasat’s request for a stay pending appeal.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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