SpaceX and other commercial space companies are urging the FCC to allow for easier access to the wireless spectrum to support increases in rocket launches, Bloomberg reports. The current system, they argue, is too slow and cumbersome.
SpaceX’s plans to dramatically increase launches, potentially to 10,000 rockets a year, as it pursues ambitions including space-based data centers, intensifying the dispute and testing the company’s influence in Washington. The industry wants the FCC to eliminate the Aerospace and Flight Test Radio Coordinating Council, which coordinates spectrum use among launch operators, aerospace companies and government agencies, and replace it with a self-coordination system.
However, aerospace and defense companies including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and RTX oppose the changes, warning that interference could disrupt aircraft and missile testing and compromise critical data transmissions. GE Healthcare has also raised concerns that rocket launches could interfere with wireless hospital sensors used to monitor patients’ vital signs, while the Wireless Microphone Spectrum Alliance warns of potential disruptions to live broadcasts of major sporting events.
