OneWeb Waves Off Opposition to Expanded NGSO Constellation Plans
Having taken great pains to make sure its U.S. market access application for its planned low earth orbit (LEO) constellation met FCC milestone rules, OneWeb in International Bureau replies Monday said it shouldn't be disadvantaged for now seeking to add…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
more satellites to that market access grant in light of the agency relaxing those rules. It responded to opposition from other non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite operators (see 1808080003). OneWeb said SpaceX and SES/O3b concerns about more interference are misleading and inaccurate and that increasing the number of LEO satellites to 1,980 will better allow coordination flexibility with other NGSO operators. It said the 18 additional orbital planes it wants to employ will give it double coverage everywhere on Earth, boosting its ability to use satellite diversity to reduce the power level of interference at a receiver during an in-line event. The company dismissed allegations its plans to expand its LEO constellation are spectrum speculation or warehousing, saying it sold all of its satellite capacity and has multiple launch contracts for the initial 720 satellites.