On November 3, 2022, at the National Press Club in Washington D.C., Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced a plan to reorganize the agency to better support the needs of the growing satellite industry, promote long-term technical capacity at the FCC, and navigate 21st-century global communications policy.
Under this plan, Chairwoman Rosenworcel will work to reorganize the FCC’s International Bureau into a new Space Bureau and a standalone Office of International Affairs. These changes will help ensure that the FCC’s resources are better aligned so that the agency can continue to fulfill its statutory obligations and keep pace with the rapidly changing realities of the satellite industry and global communications policy.
“The satellite industry is growing at a record pace, but here on the ground, our regulatory frameworks for licensing them have not kept up. Over the past two years, the agency has received applications for 64,000 new satellites. In addition, we are seeing new commercial models, new players, and new technologies coming together to pioneer a wide range of new satellite services and space-based activities that need access to wireless airwaves,” said Chairwoman Rosenworcel.
“Today [November 3rd], I announced a plan to build on this success and prepare for what comes next. A new Space Bureau at the FCC will ensure that the agency’s resources are appropriately aligned to fulfill its statutory obligations, improve its coordination across the federal government, and support the 21st-century satellite industry.”
The Commission licenses radio frequency uses by satellites and ensures that space systems reviewed by the agency have sufficient plans to mitigate orbital debris under the authority of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. By establishing a stand-alone Space Bureau the agency aims to better fulfill its statutory obligations and elevate the significance of satellite programs and policy within the agency to a level that reflects the importance of the emerging space economy. By separating satellite policy from the “International Bureau,” the agency acknowledges the role of satellite communications in advancing domestic communications policy and achieving U.S. broadband goals.
Lastly, the goal of establishing a stand-alone Office of International Affairs will allow relevant experts to focus specifically on matters of international communications regulation and licensing as we enter a new era of global communications policy. Additionally, this structure emulates the successful models of offices such as the Office of Engineering and Technology, and the Office of General Counsel that allows for consistent expertise to be leveraged across all the Bureaus with a nexus to international affairs. (1)
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Russia’s sabotage of the Nordstream pipelines in the Baltic were probably done for many reasons. Just prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine they conducted tests of space based attack systems. Now they have shown they can attack undersea system and will do so when they want. For planning purposes we can assess the attacks were done to signal that Russia does not care about EU as a market so no sanctions can be levied that will matter. The attack also signals that Russia does not care about the environment, which may be a signal that they would not care in the least if nuclear fallout from a tactical nuclear weapon against Ukraine blows over Russia. The attack also distracts resources from the EU to deal with and will be a distraction.
Our recent coverage of commercial space has included DoD efforts to leverage the commercial space internet as “future military operations will be multi-domain and will be conducted with unprecedented speed.” Experimental DoD efforts are focused on building a “robust systems architecture ecosystem with the growth of exponential technologies like AI in mind”, which will be crucial to leveraging space-based commercial internet capabilities. The Defense Intelligence Agency also recently updated the Challenges to Security in Space 2022. In light of the cyber attacks on the Ukrainian satellite system (which figured prominently in the early stages of the Ukraine conflict) we also highlighted Space Security and Offensive and Defensive Counterspace Capabilities.
Clearly, space continues to be an active, contested space, with a hybrid of governmental and commercial activities already in play. We now turn to NASA, Chinese and commercial development efforts – and the future role of laser satellite links in the space communications infrastructure.
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