ESIM Operators Jousting With Iridium Over Band Sharing With Aeronautical

proposed changes to the ESIM draft order (see 1809130025) would be too restrictive of aeronautical ESIMs in the band. They said Iridium hasn't shown why it supposedly can't coordinate with aeronautical ESIMs and said any in-line event involving an Iridium earth station, an ESIM, an Iridium satellite and the geostationary satellite would "be an extremely rare occurrence," while near in-line events would still be "very rare." They also said there's no material difference in potential effect of aeronautical ESIMs vs. ESIMs on the ground and since Iridium has said it can coexist with land and maritime ESIMs there's no reason the same doesn't hold true for aeronautical. Iridium emailed that the technical record and years of international studies show ESIMs will cause interference to non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) systems like its own. "And it is equally clear no one has identified a traditional way to coordinate ESIMs and NGSOs," it said. "This problem is manifestly worse with aeronautical ESIMs because: (1) they move very, very fast; (2) they change altitude; and (3) they can fly right between the gateways and the Iridium constellation -- making in-line events a certainty unless the ESIM is turned off. The draft Order has suggested that NGSOs can be protected by turning ESIMs off if they can see an Iridium satellite. That might work if it were adopted as a rule."