FCC gives final go-ahead for another 15,000 Starlink satellites

As Starlink continues to wrestle with the idiosyncrasies of India's regulatory system, in the US, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC)'s Space Bureau has authorised the launch of no fewer than 15,000 new Starlink satellites for the purposes of providing mobile satellite services (MSS), supplemental coverage from space (SCS), and fixed satellite services (FSS).

According to stats compiled by orbitalradar.com, there are currently 10,063 active Starlink satellites in orbit. A further 901 are in the process of deployment, and 172 are currently being de-orbited. It is already comfortably the world's biggest constellation and this next phase of deployment will cement its status.

The satellites will run on the AWS-3 and AWS-H block spectrum that Starlink acquired from Echostar last year, as well as T-Mobile's PCS G block spectrum.

The new constellation will include Starlink's V2 Mobile satellites, which support maximum downlink throughput of 150 Mbps, and will form the backbone of its D2D services going forward.

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It's generally perceived as a supplementary connectivity option for users who wander beyond terrestrial coverage, and early indications suggest that is how it is being used.

However, that's not ambitious enough for the man who wants to launch 1 million orbital data centres, so he is positioning it as a viable competitor to terrestrial mobile services, despite having less spectrum to work with, and having to contend with far greater distances between the network and devices, plus more challenging atmospheric conditions as well.

Rivals AT&T and T-Mobile aren't exactly quaking in their boots.

Meanwhile, the FCC has also made a bunch of proposals to release even more spectrum for satellite services, and also drones.

First and foremost, the watchdog will launch a consultation on overhauling rules governing D2D services that use licensed spectrum. It claims that such a move could free up 482 MHz of spectrum for SCS.

The FCC is also keen to auction 25 MHz of mid-band spectrum in the 1675-1695 MHz and 2020-2025 MHz bands, which could be used for both terrestrial and non-terrestrial services.

In addition, the FCC wants to scrap rules preventing the use of the 800 MHz band for drone operations. This, says the regulator, will free up 50 MHz of licensed, nationwide, low-band spectrum that would support the rollout of various drone-based services.

The proposals come less than a week after the FCC voted in favour of opening up the 12.7 GHz and 42 GHz bands for various uses including satellite.

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"The 'direct-to-device' proposals work to continue leveraging this cutting-edge tech to end cell phone dead zones and provide service directly from next-gen satellite constellations to your smartphone," said FCC chairman Brendan Carr. "And our final rules on drones further President Trump's call for drone dominance, providing the emerging American drone economy with usable spectrum to support the next generation of commercial and defence innovations. This comes on top of our latest action to light up key spectrum bands purchased by SpaceX for its 15,000 satellite direct-to-cell system."

The proposals are due to be put to a vote at the FCC's open meeting on 29 October. Given that spectrum availability is a fairly nonpartisan issue, it's a safe bet they will get the nod.