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SpaceX plans to launch its Starlink system for phones this fall, pending approval from the FCC.The company revealed the target launch date in a filing about the commission’s new rules on supplying satellite connectivity to US carriers, also known as “supplemental coverage from space.”“SpaceX supports nearly all of the Commission’s recent SCS Order and looks forward to launching commercial direct-to-cellular service in the United States this fall,” the company wrote. The filing also teases more about SpaceX’s long-term goals for the “direct to cell” Starlink system, which will beam internet data to unmodified smartphones on the ground, making it a useful way to serve consumers in cellular dead zones.“Although SpaceX currently intends to provide text, voice, and web browsing through its supplemental coverage network, future innovations may permit even more robust supplemental coverage service and enhanced features,” the company wrote. “While this improved service will not substitute for terrestrial mobile networks, it would provide an enhanced source of connectivity where those networks do not exist.”
(Credit: Starlink.com)
Still, SpaceX says the FCC’s current framework for supplying satellite connectivity to phones has one stumbling block. The company’s filing urges the Commission to loosen the aggregate limit on radio frequencies for cellular satellites, specifically the “one-size-fits-all aggregate out-of-band power flux-density.” Instead, SpaceX backs replacing the one-size-fits-all restriction with more granular “band-specific limits” to help the company improve the coverage and reliability of the forthcoming cellular Starlink system. “An across-the-board, aggregate out-of-band limit, by contrast, will unfortunately undermine the goal of providing robust coverage during emergencies,” the company wrote. The same limit could also prevent SpaceX from developing future innovations for the cellular Starlink technology. “Even if operators could provide robust coverage under the aggregate PFD limit in the SCS Order, meeting such a restrictive limit would require satellite operators either to reduce network coverage and capacity or to significantly suppress their signals to meet the limit,” the company added.
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SpaceX and its partner T-Mobile —the first US carrier to adopt the cellular Starlink tech— previously told the FCC that the radio frequency limit is too constrictive. But in March, the FCC noted that rivals, including AT&T, Verizon, and Dish Network, lobbied the Commission to maintain the restriction, citing the need to protect against potential radio interference. SpaceX submitted the filing as numerous groups are commenting to the FCC about its framework to enable satellite connectivity to phones. This has included scientists concerned that SpaceX’s cellular Starlink satellites pose an existential risk to radio astronomy, citing the increased radio interference. But in a separate filing to the FCC, SpaceX said it’s been working with the astronomy community on mitigating the potential risks. The company also said the Commission could consider requiring companies to coordinate with the National Science Foundation prior to operating satellite connectivity services in the US. “A general, post-grant coordination requirement would avoid establishing protection criteria that could soon become out of date,” SpaceX added. “For example, over the last 10 years, satellite technology has improved at a rapid pace, permitting more efficient and dynamic sharing through steerable phased array antennas, dynamic beam scheduling, and lower altitude operations placing smaller beam footprints on the ground.”
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