Resources from New America’s Wireless Future Program
Since the launch of Sputnik I in 1957, satellite technology has evolved to facilitate connectivity, including broadcast, cellular service, and broadband internet access. Recent advances in satellite technology have fueled an exponential increase in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, which provide low-latency, high-speed connectivity. As the field continues to rapidly grow, LEO satellites present an opportunity to expand connectivity access for individual and enterprise users—particularly those in underserved or hard-to-reach areas.
This collection provides an overview of Wireless Future’s efforts to advance the nascent field in order to facilitate universal connectivity and efficient spectrum sharing.
In 2023, New America’s Wireless Future and the International Center for Law and Economics (ICLE) co-chaired roundtable discussions on LEO satellites with the Bipartisan Policy Center, leading to the creation of the LEO Satellite Forum. Wireless Future and ICLE have since brought together experts from industry, public policy, academic, and regulation to explore challenges related to the deployment of LEO satellites for universal connectivity. The LEO Policy Working Group focuses on (1) promoting sustainable competition; (2) improving LEO satellite coexistence and performance; and (3) integrating LEO satellites into digital equity and broadband access efforts. Our goal is to equip policymakers with insights needed to support LEO satellite innovation and close current connectivity gaps.
LEO satellites operate in the closest range to Earth, orbiting between 300 and 2,000 kilometers above the planet’s surface. At this altitude, latency (or lag time) is reduced, enabling LEO satellites to provide near-real-time communications with less signal power for transmission. Learn more about the benefits and potential of LEO satellites to advance connectivity.
This flagship report by the LEO Policy Working Group highlights salient issues for policymakers to address in order to promote spectrum sharing, foster competition, and close digital divides.
Wireless Future and ICLE hosted a symposium about the rapidly evolving field of Low Earth Orbit satellites. The event built on findings from the report by the LEO Policy Working Group. It featured an insightful keynote address from Jay Schwarz, the chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s Space Bureau, followed by a "Satellite Constellations 101" session presented by Patricia Cooper, a leading policy and regulatory expert for space and satellite communications. The symposium also included panels with regulatory, academic, and industry experts who explored significant questions regarding LEO satellite policy challenges.
Wireless Future regularly participates in Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proceedings, providing comments that support improved spectrum use and efficient spectrum sharing.
OTI and the International Center for Law & Economics submitted comments applauding the Federal Communications Commission’s comprehensive proposal for space licensing reform, which supplements the rapid evolution of the space industry. They also share that the Commission’s proposals align with many of the insights and recommendations offered in a recent report by the bipartisan LEO Policy Working Group co-chaired by the two organizations.
OTI and Public Knowledge submitted joint comments urging the Federal Communications Commission to propose changes that make all of the Upper C-band (3.98-4.2 GHz) available for more intensive licensed and shared use. The Commission can achieve this through a combination of consolidating Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) incumbents—enabling a new flexible use allocation in the lower portion of the band—and by authorizing shared use by mobile satellite services in the upper portion of the band to the greatest extent feasible.
OTI and Public Knowledge submitted joint comments urging the Federal Communications Commission to replace the current sharing framework in the UMFUS mmWave bands with a light-licensing and automated database coordination approach that enables more cost-effective and intensive spectrum access, while more consistently protecting incumbent deployments from harmful interference.
New America’s Open Technology Institute (OTI) and Public Knowledge (PK) submitted comments in response to the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in several Federal Communications Commission proceedings. Expanding the use of the 12.7 GHz band for satellite communications is likely to “encourage a more efficient and intensive use of the band than previous proposals.”
New America’s Open Technology Institute (OTI) and Public Knowledge (PK) submitted comments in response to the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in several Federal Communications Commission proceedings. Expanding the use of the 12.7 GHz band for satellite communications is likely to “encourage a more efficient and intensive use of the band than previous proposals.”
The Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge have long maintained that mmWave spectrum is “well-suited for a sharing framework that is open, non-rivalrous, and that borrows elements from both CBRS and the 70/80/90 GHz bands,” relying on a light-licensing coordination approach where operators first obtain a nationwide, non-exclusive license and then register and coordinate their site-by-site deployments through an automated spectrum management system.
OTI joined 14 nonprofit think tanks and other groups from across the political spectrum in a letter to the three agencies representing the U.S. at the 2023 World Radio Conference in Dubai. The letter emphasized that because LEO satellites are delivering high-speed broadband and helping address the digital divide in the U.S. and globally, “it is imperative for the federal government to promote this promising technology.”
New America’s Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge, Center for Rural Strategies, Next Century Cities, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, Oregon Fiber Partnership, and Access Humboldt submitted comments in response to the Federal Communications Commission's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. This group urged the Commission to adopt a good-faith coordination framework to facilitate intensive spectrum sharing, market entry, and competition among NGSO operators.
Learn more about the LEO satellite industry, their role in advancing universal connectivity, and the actions needed to support LEO satellite use.
LEO constellations have enormous potential to extend broadband and smartphone connectivity anywhere and everywhere. But policy decisions pending at the FCC will determine whether this potential can be realized.
Wireless Future at New America and the International Center for Law & Economics (ICLE) explore how leading satellite operators and experts view these pending rulemakings and how they might boost LEO satellite capacity and performance.
Michael Calabrese of the Wireless Future Project and Kristian Stout of the International Center for Law and Economics co-wrote an article for Truth on the Market about competition in the low-Earth-orbit satellite industry.
What does “tech neutrality” actually mean for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program and its goal of universal broadband? Policy analyst Jessica Dine weighs in.
