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Come on, you promised to play nice!
Amazon is preparing to launch 3,236 satellites into orbit, launching its Project Kuiper satellite broadband service. But instead of going down the path set by FCC regulations, Amazon is asking to change the rules: It wants to share the spectrum with SpaceX’s Starlink. And SpaceX is not happy.
Under FCC spectrum sharing rules implemented in 2022, NGSO FSS (Non-Geostationary Satellite Orbit, Fixed Satellite Service Systems) systems can only share radio frequencies if approved during the same round of application processing. spectrum. In other words, spectrum sharing must be defined prior to satellite deployment.
This ensures that existing satellite systems, such as Starlink, do not receive interference from future NGSO FSS implementations (and vice versa). It is difficult to modify an existing NGSO FSS system to accommodate a new system, but it is relatively easy to find out these details during a field approval process. (For what it’s worth, SpaceX proposed this rule to the FCC.)
But how Register As he explains, Amazon is campaigning for the rapid adoption of a new NGSO FSS spectrum sharing policy. He recently sent a letter to the FCC explaining that new NGSO FSS systems should be able to share radio frequencies with existing satellite networks. This would allow faster deployment for satellite systems like the Kuiper Project. and enable NGSO FSS operators to rapidly expand their satellite constellations in future rounds of spectrum processing.
SpaceX responded by sending a letter to the FCC. In it, SpaceX says Amazon is asking for “special treatment” and claims that looser spectrum allocation rules would encourage the proliferation of “poorly designed and inefficient satellite systems that stifle competition.” (For reference, Amazon and SpaceX had a public falling out in 2021 over a very similar disagreement.)
And SpaceX sees this as an attack on its Starlink system. The company notes that spectrum sharing requires intensive coordination, including the sharing of proprietary knowledge and technology, which Amazon can “abuse.”
Clearly SpaceX and Amazon want a say in how NGSO FSS systems work. Both companies argue that their rival is “stifling competition”, even though Starlink and Project Kuiper are virtually alone in this race and are heavily dependent on government funding. On the plus side, we can confidently say that the satellite broadband market is full of unique and different opinions.
Source: Amazon, SpaceX via The Register
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