Satellite Spectrum Abundance

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION <CFR>47 CFR Parts 2 and 25</CFR> <DEPDOC>[SB Docket No. 25-180; GN Docket No. 22-352; WT Docket No. 23-158; GN Docket No. 14-177; FCC 25-29; FR ID 300039]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Satellite Spectrum Abundance</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Federal Communications Commission. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Proposed rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) seeks further comment on ways to use the 12.7-13.25 GHz band and the 42.0-42.5 GHz band more efficiently and intensively by satellite communications and seeks comment on proposals to make additional spectrum resources available for satellite communications in the 51.4-52.4 GHz band and within certain W-band frequency ranges (92.0-94.0 GHz, 94.1-100 GHz, 102.0-109.5 GHz, and 111.8-114.25 GHz). </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Comments are due July 28, 2025. Reply comments are due August 26, 2025. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> You may submit comments, identified by SB Docket No. 25-180, GN Docket No. 22-352, WT Docket No. 23-158, and GN Docket No. 14-177, by any of the following methods: ☐ <E T="03">FCC Website: https://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs.</E> Follow the instructions for submitting comments. ☐ <E T="03">People with Disabilities:</E> Contact the FCC to request reasonable accommodations (accessible format documents, sign language interpreters, CART, etc.) by email: <E T="03">FCC504@fcc.gov</E> or phone: 202-418-0530 or TTY: 202-418-0432. For detailed instructions for submitting comments and additional information on the rulemaking process, see the <E T="02">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION</E> section of this document. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> Stephen Duall, 202-418-1103, <E T="03">Stephen.Duall@fcc.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> This is a summary of the Commission's Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), FCC 25-29, adopted May 22, 2025, and released May 27, 2025. The full text is available online at <E T="03">https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-25-29A1.pdf.</E> The document is also available for inspection and copying during business hours in the FCC Reference Center, 45 L Street NE, Washington, DC 20554. To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities, send an email to <E T="03">FCC504@fcc.gov</E> or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (TTY). <HD SOURCE="HD1">Procedural Matters</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD2">Comment Filing Requirements</HD> Interested parties may file comments and reply comments on or before the dates indicated in the <E T="02">DATES</E> section above. Comments may be filed using the Commission's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). ☐ <E T="03">Electronic Filers.</E> Comments may be filed electronically using the internet by accessing the ECFS: <E T="03">https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs.</E> ☐ <E T="03">Paper Filers.</E> Parties who file by paper must include an original and one copy of each filing. ○ Filings can be sent by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail. All filings must be addressed to the Commission's Secretary, Office of the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission. ○ Hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission's Secretary are accepted between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. by the FCC's mailing contractor at 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes must be disposed of before entering the building. ○ Commercial courier deliveries (any deliveries not by the U.S. Postal Service) must be sent to 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701. ○ Filings sent by U.S. Postal Service First-Class Mail, Priority Mail, and Priority Mail Express, must be sent to 45 L Street NE, Washington, DC 20554. ☐ <E T="03">People with Disabilities.</E> To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an email to <E T="03">fcc504@fcc.gov</E> or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (TTY). <HD SOURCE="HD2">Ex Parte Presentations</HD> Pursuant to 47 CFR 1.1200(a), this proceeding will be treated as a “permit-but-disclose” proceeding in accordance with the Commission's <E T="03">ex parte</E> rules. Persons making <E T="03">ex parte</E> presentations must file a copy of any written presentation or a memorandum summarizing any oral presentation within two business days after the presentation (unless a different deadline applicable to the Sunshine period applies). Persons making oral <E T="03">ex parte</E> presentations are reminded that memoranda summarizing the presentation must (1) list all persons attending or otherwise participating in the meeting at which the <E T="03">ex parte</E> presentation was made, and (2) summarize all data presented and arguments made during the presentation. If the presentation consisted in whole or in part of the presentation of data or arguments already reflected in the presenter's written comments, memoranda or other filings in the proceeding, the presenter may provide citations to such data or arguments in his or her prior comments, memoranda, or other filings (specifying the relevant page and/or paragraph numbers where such data or arguments can be found) in lieu of summarizing them in the memorandum. Documents shown or given to Commission staff during <E T="03">ex parte</E> meetings are deemed to be written <E T="03">ex parte</E> presentations and must be filed consistent with 47 CFR 1.1206(b). In proceedings governed by 47 CFR 1.49(f) or for which the Commission has made available a method of electronic filing, written <E T="03">ex parte</E> presentations and memoranda summarizing oral <E T="03">ex parte</E> presentations, and all attachments thereto, must be filed through the electronic comment filing system available for that proceeding, and must be filed in their native format ( <E T="03">e.g.,</E> .doc, .xml, .ppt, searchable .pdf). Participants in this proceeding should familiarize themselves with the Commission's <E T="03">ex parte</E> rules. <HD SOURCE="HD2">Regulatory Flexibility Analysis</HD> The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended (RFA), requires that an agency prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis for notice-and-comment rulemaking proceedings, unless the agency certifies that “the rule will not, if promulgated, have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.” Accordingly, the Commission has prepared an Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) concerning the possible impact of potential rule and policy changes contained in the NPRM on small entities. The IRFA is set forth in Appendix A of the Commission document, <E T="03">https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-25-29A1.pdf.</E> The Commission invites the general public, in particular small businesses, to comment on the IRFA. Comments must be filed by the deadlines for comments indicated on the first page of this document and must have a separate and distinct heading designating them as responses to the IRFA. <HD SOURCE="HD2">Paperwork Reduction Act</HD> This document does not contain proposed information collections subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), Public Law 104-13. In addition, therefore, it does not contain any new or modified information collection burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees, pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, Public Law 107-198, see 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(4). <HD SOURCE="HD2">Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act</HD> Consistent with the Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act, Public Law 118-9, a summary of this document will be available on <E T="03">https://www.fcc.gov/proposed-rulemakings.</E> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Synopsis</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Introduction</HD> 1. The satellite industry is delivering a new wave of innovation and investment as demand for high-speed connectivity skyrockets thanks to streaming, cloud services, global connectivity initiatives, and emerging AI applications. With major investment in the ecosystem and next-generation satellite systems promising faster, more reliable, and lower-latency service, having abundant satellite spectrum is more critical than ever. To ensure U.S. leadership in this rapidly evolving sector and to keep pace with global developments, the Commission is committed to achieving spectrum abundance for the growing competitive ecosystem of existing and emerging satellite services. The Commission initiates these proceedings to explore opportunities to make over 20,000 megahertz of spectrum available for satellite use across four bands. 2. In the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM), the Commission seeks further comment on ways to use the 12.7-13.25 GHz band (12.7 GHz band) and the 42.0-42.5 GHz band (42 GHz band) more efficiently and intensively, in order to promote technological innovation, the growth of the nation's economy, and greater connectivity for the American public. Previously, the Commission has sought comment on ways that the 12.7 GHz band and 42 GHz band could be used more intensively by terrestrial wireless communications to achieve these goals. The FNPRM seeks comment on ways that these bands could be used more intensively by satellite communications, as an alternative or a complement to the previous proposals for terrestrial wireless communications in these bands. 3. The Commission is interested in opening the 12 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 117k characters. 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