The FCC Space and Wireless bureaus' grant of a waiver to SpaceX for its supplemental coverage from space (SCS) service unreasonably put the burden on EchoStar to protect itself from any interference, EchoStar said this week in an application for review. The waiver, granted last month, covered the aggregate out-of-band power flux density limits that the FCC adopted in its 2024 SCS order and requires that SpaceX address any interference that happens (see 2503070030). EchoStar said the bureaus never showed that the FCC's concerns underlying its emissions limit rule had changed, gone away or become unlikely. It said the Communications Act gives the FCC the task of preventing interference, not addressing it after the fact. It asked that the full commission reverse the bureaus' waiver.
Aspects of the FCC's 2024 order reallocating the 2360-2395 MHz band on a secondary basis for space launch operations (see 2412310029) need clarification or reconsideration, the Aerospace and Flight Test Radio Coordinating Council said in a petition Tuesday (docket 13-115). AFTRCC applauded the decision to make spectrum available for space launch and reentry activities but said that shouldn't "cause undue constraints on the continued primary use of the shared allocation in the band by Federal and non-Federal flight test operators." It said the agency should make clear that coordination of space launch activity with flight test operations in the upper S band will be collaborative exercises. It should also make clear that per-launch coordination is required for nonfederal flight test operations in 2360-2395 MHz in the same way it's required for primarily federal flight test operations in the band, AFTRCC said. Lastly, the FCC should clarify language in the order suggesting that the availability of the 2360-2395 MHz band for commercial space launch and reentry activity was a minimum required by Congress when the law limits permissible operations to such activity and going beyond those uses would expressly conflict with the language of the statute.
The Coalition for IP Transition fired back Tuesday at Verizon on the issue of whether the FCC should impose interconnection requirements as part of the carrier’s buy of Frontier (see 2504010070). “Verizon admits that it does interconnect with some competitors for the exchange of traffic on an IP basis but only when it wants to do so and only on its terms,” the coalition said in a filing posted in docket 24-445.
LAS VEGAS – An ATSC 3.0 datacasting joint venture that combines the spectrum of the four largest TV groups is viable now but would be capable of nearly 10 times the capacity if the FCC requires a nationwide transition, said executives from Sinclair, Nexstar, Gray and E.W. Scripps in a news conference Monday at NAB Show 2025. Their joint venture, Edgebeam Wireless, was announced in January (see 2501070079).
The FCC’s “Delete, Delete, Delete” docket is active, with 159 filings as of late Tuesday. While big industry players haven't yet weighed in, comments so far represent a hodgepodge, mostly from individuals discussing pet projects. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr launched docket 25-133 last month (see 2503120055) as part of the agency’s commitment “to ending all of the rules and regulations that are no longer necessary.”
Communications policy-focused lobbyists and other observers expect most Senate Commerce Committee Democrats will vote against advancing NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth on Wednesday, they told us. Democrats’ criticism of Roth won't ultimately threaten her prospects, though, as observers said they expect Senate Commerce Republicans to almost uniformly support her. Senate Commerce's meeting to vote on Roth will begin at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell. Lawmakers and observers said they expect Democrats to be equally, if not more, critical of Republican FCC nominee Olivia Trusty during a confirmation hearing that will immediately follow the Roth vote (see 2504080066).
LAS VEGAS—FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez on Monday decried “an administration-wide campaign to censor and control” media but said she and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr “work very well” when they collaborate. During a Q&A at NAB Show 2025, Gomez also vowed to continue speaking out if the White House fires her and said she doesn’t blame broadcasters for the industry’s lack of pushback on the FCC action against TV networks. “I understand that all these parties all have to operate in this environment, and sticking your neck out is not the easiest thing to do,” Gomez said. “There’s nothing [the White House] can do to me. They can’t even deport me!”
Senate Commerce Committee Democrats appeared set Tuesday afternoon to pillory Republican FCC candidate Olivia Trusty during her confirmation hearing Wednesday over concerns about the commission's independence from the Trump administration and Chairman Brendan Carr’s actions since he took the gavel Jan. 20. Congressional Democrats have amplified concerns about the FCC’s future independence since President Donald Trump’s disputed firing of both party-affiliated FTC commissioners (see 2504010053). Trusty’s hearing will immediately follow a scheduled 10 a.m. Senate Commerce meeting to vote on NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth, which is likely to see her advance with strong GOP support and little to no Democratic backing (see 2504080059). Both events will occur in 253 Russell.
Impulse Space is aiming to launch the Impulse-3 orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) later this year, it told the FCC Space Bureau in an application posted Monday. It said Impulse-3 -- its third OTV mission -- will deploy up to four third-party satellites and host six non-deployable payloads. The mission is also intended to demonstrate on-orbit maneuvering capabilities. Impulse-3 will operate in the S and X bands, the company added.
Saying Amazon gave no advance word of its plans to launch its first batch of Kuiper satellites Wednesday (see 2504020044), EchoStar's Hughes is asking for more time to submit the technical demonstration that the FCC requires, showing how Hughes will protect those non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellites from interference from its Jupiter 3 satellite. In an FCC Space Bureau waiver request posted Monday, Hughes asked for 40 additional days. Hughes said a condition of Jupiter 3's license is that 60 days before the initial scheduled launch of a new U.S. NGSO fixed satellite service system, Hughes either has to complete coordination with that NGSO operator or submit the technical demonstration. Hughes and Amazon are in coordination discussions, the filing said, but the additional time will let Hughes either complete that coordination or file its technical demonstration.