SpaceX's Spectrum Deal Dirsupting Satellite Competition: Iridium CEO

The SpaceX/EchoStar spectrum deal, announced this week (see 2509080052), "will certainly create competition" for L- and S-band operators like Iridium, Globalstar and Viasat, Desch said. The L and S bands -- 1-2 GHz and 2-4 GHz, respectively -- are held by a relatively small number of operators, and services in those bands haven't seen the commoditization and price wars that service bands with far more competitors, such as Ku and Ka, have experienced, he said. Desch added that it's not clear yet how SpaceX's AWS-4 and H-block spectrum -- both being in the 2 GHz band -- will change the competitive dynamic for the L and S bands. That new competitive dynamic "will take a while," as the spectrum is allocated for geostationary orbit use, and reallocating it for low earth orbit use will take a couple of years. SpaceX also will need to launch new Starlinks to use the spectrum, and there aren't devices available today with chipsets that can use the spectrum, he said.

Iridium's D2D plan was to offer SMS and SOS messaging features, but the company lacks the bandwidth and spectrum for broadband, Desch said, adding that it anticipated being "the glue" backing up the regional D2D offerings of other satellite operators like SpaceX or AST SpaceMobile. Now it seems clear SpaceX will be a global offering in a few years, potentially obviating it having to work with mobile network operator (MNO) partners. Desch said there might still be niches Iridium can fill, such as in partnership with MNOs.

Babin argued that the U.S. mustn’t restrict commercial operators with an onerous regulatory bureaucracy, especially given that federal budget cuts are introducing a degree of uncertainty. The proposed cuts to federal space spending are somewhat inexplicable, given how President Donald Trump “wants to win the space race” with China, he said. “We have to be No. 1 in space,” which includes getting Americans back on the moon before China. The U.S. also needs a constantly manned space station in low earth orbit for national security and industrial R&D purposes, Babin said, adding that reintroduction of his Commercial Space Act is a priority.

The federal space-related agencies are of one mind about reducing regulation, FCC Space Bureau Chief Jay Schwarz said. He's “very worried about killing that startup that might never get off the ground” due to overregulation.

In addition, he talked up the agency’s proceeding that looks at new equivalent power flux density limits on non-geostationary orbit satellites. He said updated technical rules and power limits for NGSOs would bring “massive” benefits for consumers, such as better satellite-delivered broadband speeds. The U.S. wants to build a coalition of countries that are interested in reduced power limits on NGSO satellites, Schwarz said, with Romania and others being possibilities. He also said the U.S. wants to take a coalition approach on other space topics internationally.

FCC efforts to accelerate its processes are aimed at allowing innovation but also boosting national security, Schwarz said. "We want to figure out how to get to 'yes.'"

House Space Subcommittee Chairman Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., said space launch infrastructure -- whether federal or commercial -- is a pressing need, especially as the country wants to be the world's spaceport. There’s also a big need among space companies in Florida for workers, he added.

Brian Huseman, Amazon's vice president of public policy and community engagement, criticized the proposed EU Space Act. He said it’s significant legislation that could favor European space companies over U.S. ones.