NGSO Interference Seen as a Percolating Regulatory Issue
The possibility of the booming number of planned low earth orbit satellites causing interference for other LEO systems or geostationary orbit satellites "will come to a head in the next couple years" and needs to be addressed, said Jennifer Manner, EchoStar senior vice president-regulatory affairs. Speaking Wednesday at a Nebraska College of Law space law conference, she said an open proceeding at the U.K.'s Ofcom about non-geostationary orbit satellite systems interfering with other NGSOs indicates the growing need for regulatory solutions.
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Manner and Lockheed Martin Vice President-Technology Policy and Regulation Jennifer Warren, both members of the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee, hoped to see the FCC and NTIA adopt some of CSMAC's recommended changes in how the agencies cooperate on spectrum (see 2101140048). Manner said increased communications steps the two could take without enabling legislation include shared offices or cross-agency details of employees. The FCC didn't comment. Warren said an updated memorandum of understanding between the agencies would be a big interim step, but ultimately decision-making authority should be shared. She said current spectrum governance with the FCC, an independent agency, having unilateral spectrum control doesn't account for such issues as the executive branch setting national priorities like 5G.
The Biden administration hasn't nominated an NTIA head or a permanent FCC chair. But both agencies are "moving forward as far as they can" on spectrum items, Warren said. She said a challenge is looming with preparations for the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference, when permanent leadership of those agencies will be needed to help drive national priorities.
Manner said major WRC-23 issues for the satellite industry include spectrum for intersatellite links and allocating more 17 GHz fixed satellite service spectrum in Region 2, which could give access to more spectrum needed for satellite broadband in the Americas. Warren said there hasn't been formal ITU discussion about its jurisdiction over non Earth-centric communications, but it's an emerging issue. She said the ITU constitution is earth centric, creating questions about what role it plays in governing robotic communications on the moon or lunar inter-habitat communications.
Manner said it's disappointing the U.S. hasn't taken more of a leadership role globally in orbital debris regulation by having one agency such as Commerce's Office of Space Commerce be the lead in developing standards that agencies like the FCC would implement. The piecemeal approach the U.S. takes now across multiple agencies makes it hard for it to urge a cohesive approach internationally, she said. "We are a long way" from a whole-of-goverment approach, Warren added. She said the U.N.'s planned sustainable development summit in 2023, which will include some space discussions, sets a timeline the U.S. can try to work toward.