A Competitor Has Asked the FCC to Block SpaceX's Satellite Internet Test

One of the world's largest satellite companies has asked the US government to block SpaceX's planned internet satellite test, according to a filing with the Federal Communications Commission.

SpaceX and its founder, Elon Musk, plan to launch 4,000 small satellites over the next several years in a bid to provide wireless internet to every spot on Earth. The company opened up an office in the Seattle area earlier this summer specifically to design and build the satellites. The satellite array will reportedly be able to provide speeds that rival fiber optic networks—if successful, the company could become one of the most powerful telecommunications companies in the world.

That's a big "if." Earlier this month, Intelsat, which already operates broadband-providing satellites from geostationary orbit (which is higher than SpaceX plans to fly its satellites), asked the FCC to deny SpaceX's application to test two types of internet-providing satellite.

Intelsat said too much information on SpaceX's experimental application was kept confidential, making it impossible for Intelsat to determine whether or not SpaceX's communications systems would interfere with Intelsat's. The company also alleged that SpaceX has not proven that its satellites wouldn't crash into other satellites already in orbit.

Intelsat asked for the FCC to block the application "until such time as SpaceX includes sufficient information in the public record to allow Intelsat to analyze how SpaceX intends to protect cofrequency geostationary operations, as well as avoid collision with geostationary satellites transiting low Earth orbit."

"The information that SpaceX is seeking to withhold is the kind of basic information that is routinely, and publicly, filed by other satellite operators in applications seeking FCC authorizations," it continued.

Intelsat also said that the potential collision risk analysis for SpaceX's satellites was either not filed or, if it was, "is not in the public record—and it must be."

Intelsat went so far as to file a Freedom of Information Act request with the FCC asking for "a complete copy" of the application, "whether or not subject to a pending request for confidential treatment." The company also asked for all correspondence between the FCC and SpaceX regarding the application.

A representative for Intelsat told me that the company had nothing more to say beyond the contents of its filing; a SpaceX spokesperson told me he was unable to comment on the record immediately.

Without seeing the actual contents of the filing, it's impossible to know whether this is simply an obstructionist maneuver by a company that stands to be hurt if SpaceX is successful (which is, of course, the point of asking SpaceX to make this data public). It's not hard to imagine a worldwide, always-on Wi-Fi network cutting into Intelsat's cellular satellite business and perhaps totally destroying its satellite broadband one.

In any case, the company's complaint is going to be taken seriously by the FCC. An FCC spokesperson would not speak specifically about this particular complaint, but broadly explained to me how the experimental licensing process works.

The FCC says that it is generally the body that ultimately determines whether or not satellites are going to cause interference with existing communications equipment, but said that companies and the public at large regularly file complaints if they see anything that could cause a problem. Those complaints are always considered prior to granting any license.

Applications for experimental licenses that aren't objected to usually take 1-2 months to be approved. With an objection, it can take much longer. SpaceX filed its original application in late May—it's unclear when or if it'll be approved.

In an appendix filed with its application, SpaceX said that, for the test, "interference with other systems is generally very unlikely." SpaceX argues that for the test, it will only need to send data for roughly 10 minutes a day to a very limited number of ground stations (located at SpaceX's two offices in California and Washington and the Tesla headquarters in Fremont, California).

Whether or not the FCC approves the experimental license, many skeptics have said that SpaceX's biggest problem won't be launching 4,000 satellites, it'll be finding the open bandwidth to operate them in. Wireless spectrum is a limited natural resource; there's no way to create more of it. And with many people reserving frequencies on the so-called "Ku-band" that SpaceX wants to operate on, it's unclear whether the company will be able to snag the bandwidth it needs.

In fact, in a filing with the FCC earlier this year, SpaceX said that unserious competitors in other countries are grabbing spectrum without planning to actually ever use it, a tactic called "spectrum warehousing."

"Spectrum warehousing can be extremely detrimental and unprepared, highly speculative, or disingenuous applicants must be prevented from pursuing 'paper satellites' (or 'paper constellations'), which can unjustly obstruct and delay qualified applicants from deploying their systems," SpaceX wrote earlier this year.

As SpaceX's plans to get its satellite business off the ground appear to get more serious, the regulatory and competitive roadblocks it faces seem to get more complicated. The future of satellite internet will play out not only in space, it'll also be fought in government office buildings and federal registers.

Intelsat Filing