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Astra, Hughes Net, Inmarsat, Telesat, and Others File Constellation Applications

By Ryan Duffy
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Via Astra

Astra, Hughes, Inmarsat, and Telesat filed plans yesterday with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to build satellite constellations in low-Earth orbit (LEO). The FCC parcels out and regulates radio frequency (RF) usage in the US. 

Why all at once? A coincidence? But of course not. Yesterday was the deadline for the FCC’s new processing round for satellite V-band applications. Details: 

  1. Astra, which has a critical launch coming up, filed an application for up to 13,620 LEO satellites. 
  2. Hughes applied for 1,440 LEO satellites. 
  3. Inmarsat is requesting US V-band access with a future 198-satellite constellation. 
  4. Telesat has applied to build more satellites to extend its current network, theoretically bringing its constellation size to 1,671.

An open question: How many satellite constellations is too many satellite constellations? 

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