Intelsat (NYSE:I) has called on the Federal Communications Commission to deny SpaceX’s application for an experimental licence to test its prototype broadband microsatellites.
Intelsat issued an informal objection to SpaceX’s filing, arguing there…
Intelsat (NYSE:I) has called on the Federal Communications Commission to deny SpaceX’s application for an experimental licence to test its prototype broadband microsatellites.
Intelsat issued an informal objection to SpaceX’s filing, arguing there had not been “sufficient information in the public record to allow Intelsat to analyse how SpaceX intends to protect co-frequency geostationary operations, as well as avoid collision with geostationary satellites transiting low earth orbit.”
More specifically, Intelsat is pointing to the confidential treatment requests that SpaceX filed as part of its application. The FSS operator argues these sweep too broadly and prevent operators of GEO systems from understanding how SpaceX’s satellites, which will operate in the Ku- and X-bands in a near-polar orbit at 625km, would not cause interference issues.
Intelsat stated: “SpaceX boldly claims ‘interference with other systems is very unlikely.’ Yet its confidentiality request masks so much material that it is impossible for any satellite operator to judge whether its operations can be protected.”
Through law firm Wiley Rein LLP, Intelsat has also made a freedom of information request for a complete copy of the SpaceX application and any subsequent correspondence.
SpaceX filed its submission to the FCC on 29 May seeking approval to test six to eight test and demonstration satellites. The first two satellites, called MicroSat-1a and MicroSat-1b, would be launched by a Falcon 9 in 2016 and would have a six to 12 month lifespan.
At the beginning of the year, the company announced plans to launch a constellation of up to 4000 microsatellites that would provide a global broadband network.
The project competes with OneWeb, the start-up satellite internet venture founded by Greg Wyler. SpaceX had been in talks with Wyler in 2014 over potentially working together on the project but the two parties ultimately could not come to an agreement.
Since the start of the year, OneWeb has moved forward quickly with its plans, raising US$500m from a group of international companies, contracting Airbus to build its constellation and Arianespace to launch the bulk of it.
One of those investors was Intelsat, which alongside its US$25m investment signed a strategic agreement with OneWeb. This will see them create an interoperability between their respective GEO and LEO networks, and Intelsat commit to leasing capacity on the OneWeb system.
As with SpaceX, OneWeb’s satellites will operate in a near-polar orbit in the Ku-band. As such, it risks the same potential interference issues with GEO operators. However, Wyler has spent the past couple of years securing the necessary ITU Ku-band spectrum filings and regulatory scheme to operate the OneWeb system. These were formerly held by a company called Skybridge LP.
In an interview with SatelliteFinance in February 2015, Wyler emphasised the importance of having these priority rights and reducing the risk of interference.
He said: “We use Ku and Ka band and have priority rights in both. All the spectrum was freed up by the ITU in 1997 for the purpose of connecting the world. But you need to make sure you don’t interfere with the current users, and that is a challenge that befuddled our predecessors. So we have designed a technology that we call ‘progressive pitch’.
“Obviously looking at this issue was a primary concern in the architecture – you must start there. So we designed a patent-pending technology which ensures that we always maintain enough separation from the GEO satellites, that we never interfere with them.
“Progressive pitch technology is really an incredibly important secret to accomplishing our goals without interfering with any GEO satellite operator.”
