Navigating the FCC Spectrum Changes: Impacts on Starlink, OneWeb, and the Satellite Industry

The satellite broadband industry is at the forefront of delivering global internet coverage, but as the skies grow more crowded, regulatory frameworks must adapt to ensure fair access to a limited spectrum. The FCC’s recent updates to spectrum sharing rules, encapsulated in its Second Report and Order, are reshaping how satellite operators like SpaceX’s Starlink and OneWeb manage interference and maintain service quality.

Let’s explore the key aspects of the FCC rules and their impact on industry players.

Key FCC Updates at a Glance

  • 3% Time-Weighted Average Throughput Degradation:
    • The FCC has adopted this long-term interference protection criterion to limit the impact of interference from new operators on existing systems. This metric ensures that the average throughput degradation caused by new entrants remains within 3%, calculated over time and across varying propagation conditions.
  • 0.4% Absolute Increase in Short-Term Unavailability:
    • This metric caps the increase when an existing operator’s system cannot provide service due to interference from new operators at 0.4%.
  • What This Means for Operators:
    • Operators must demonstrate compliance with this limit using a degraded throughput analysis, factoring in real-world propagation conditions and interference. For systems like Starlink V2 Mini satellites, with a throughput of 80 Gbps, this rule caps potential capacity loss due to interference at 2.4 Gbps. For OneWeb, with a smaller capacity per satellite (7.2 Gbps), the impact of the same 3% limit translates into a 216 Mbps loss, highlighting a proportional disparity in resilience.

Ensuring Fairness:

These short-term interference protection criteria are designed to prevent significant service disruptions for existing operators. By focusing on absolute unavailability rather than relative changes, the FCC reduces the risk of considerable service impacts on systems with already high availability, such as Starlink’s extensive constellation. However, systems with smaller or less adaptable networks, such as OneWeb, may face more noticeable disruptions in regions with limited satellite coverage.

To promote long-term fairness, the FCC mandates that inter-round protection for earlier operators expires ten years after the first authorization in a subsequent processing round. After this period, all systems will be treated equally under the default spectrum-splitting rules.

The FCC also emphasized the importance of good-faith coordination between operators to minimize disputes. Operators must either reach coordination agreements or demonstrate compliance with these new metrics before commencing operations.

Visualizing the Impact with FreeFlyer:

Our video, built using FreeFlyer, provides a detailed visual breakdown of the FCC’s updated spectrum rules and their operational impacts. It explains the 3% time-weighted average throughput degradation rule, which balances the need to protect existing satellite systems while accommodating new entrants. Considering the duration and severity of interference, this rule ensures that performance degradation remains manageable. The video highlights how Starlink V2 Mini satellites, each with an 80 Gbps capacity, could lose up to 2.4 Gbps due to interference, while OneWeb satellites, with a smaller capacity of 7.2 Gbps each, could lose up to 216 Mbps. This stark difference underscores how Starlink’s more extensive network and excellent redundancy help absorb such losses more effectively than OneWeb’s minor constellation.

The video also explores the 0.4% absolute increase in short-term unavailability, which limits service interruptions caused by interference to a fraction of operational time. Using FreeFlyer, we demonstrate how more prominent constellations like Starlink can reroute traffic to maintain service quality, while smaller networks, such as OneWeb, may face more noticeable impacts. The simulation vividly contrasts with the adaptability of Starlink’s extensive network of over 5,000 satellites with OneWeb’s planned 648, emphasizing the resilience advantage of more prominent constellations. Additionally, advanced technologies like phased-array antennas and E-band frequencies in Starlink V2 Mini satellites are shown to enhance spectrum efficiency and mitigate regulatory constraints effectively.

Understanding complex satellite interactions and regulatory impacts can be challenging. FreeFlyer makes it easier to visualize, simulate, and analyze a wide range of satellite mission designs and operational scenarios, from constellation management to collision avoidance and regulatory compliance. Whether planning a new mission, optimizing an existing constellation, or navigating spectrum-sharing regulations, FreeFlyer provides the tools to make data-driven decisions and stay ahead of the curve.

Ready to see how FreeFlyer can transform your satellite analysis? Contact us today to explore its capabilities and take your mission planning to the next level.