SpaceX is accusing rival Viasat of trying to use the FCC to gain access to confidential data on Starlink satellite designs.
On Thursday, SpaceX made the accusation in a FCC filing defending the company’s proposal for a second-generation Starlink network, which aims to one day supply high-speed internet to millions of users across the globe.
Viasat has been among the rival satellite providers demanding the FCC impose certain conditions on the proposal, citing concerns the second-gen Starlink network will cause radio interference and collisions in space. However, SpaceX claims Viasat is resorting to legal tactics to both delay the second-gen Starlink network and to also uncover proprietary data about it.
“Viasat not only demands such onerous conditions on US licensees, but also seeks to force disclosure of SpaceX’s proprietary data —presumably to inform its designs to build a competing satellite business,” the company said on Thursday.
Viasat didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But earlier this month, it told the FCC that SpaceX’s application for the second-gen Starlink network failed to provide “key antenna and transmission information about its proposed system expansion,” including the number of beams on each satellite, and the channels per beam.
“This prevents the Commission and other interested parties from understanding the ‘baseline; satellite designs and system configurations being proposed by SpaceX,” Viasat said. “This is particularly critical in the case of SpaceX as it has unilaterally changed its satellite design multiple times, in ways potentially inconsistent with the requirement that all operating satellites and replacements remain ‘technically identical’ to those initially authorized by the Commission.”
In response, SpaceX says Viasat is merely trying to use FCC procedures to gain a “commercial advantage through delay of a competitor or forced disclosure of proprietary technical information.”
“Viasat’s multiple demands across several years despite SpaceX’s unprecedented transparency demonstrate clearly that Viasat will never be satisfied with any amount of information SpaceX could provide,” the company added.
The filing from SpaceX arrived as the company is facing an ongoing regulatory spat with rival companies over the second-gen Starlink network, which will span nearly 30,000 satellites in size. To operate the network, SpaceX still needs to secure clearance from the FCC.
On Thursday, SpaceX submitted an 86-page document that essentially accuses competitors, including OneWeb, of using FCC procedures to stop the company’s proposal for the satellite constellation, rather than competing through technology. At the same time, SpaceX said it’s gone above and beyond its rivals in supplying the FCC with information about Starlink while ensuring the satellites operate safely and reliably.
“In summary, nothing in the petitions and comments provides any basis for the Commission to delay, deny, or condition approval of the Gen2 application. Meanwhile, otherwise underserved and unserved Americans have already been waiting too long for high-quality connections,” the company said.
Still, critics including NASA, have worries about the massive size of the second-generation network. However, SpaceX’s 86-page document reiterates what SpaceX is doing to prevent the Starlink satellite system from becoming an orbital hazard. This includes how the satellites have a built-in autonomous anti-collision system onboard, which NASA itself has reviewed.
Interestingly, SpaceX says the second-gen satellites will be “somewhat larger” and generate more power over the existing Starlink satellites. This will enable the technology “to support expanded capabilities now and accommodate additional payloads in the future,” it said.
In addition, SpaceX says it’s been working with astronomers to make the second-gen Starlink satellites reflect even less light while in orbit to help prevent interference with ground-based telescopes. “SpaceX materials engineers have developed and qualified new coatings specifically designed to mitigate diffuse reflectance (brightness),” the company said.
If the second-gen Starlink satellites do fail for some reason, SpaceX said it would only take “less than one and a half years for the vast majority of them” to naturally de-orbit and burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. The remaining satellites will take less than four years to de-orbit.
SpaceX added the larger satellite constellation could pave the way for more remote learning online, facilitate telehealth, improve precision agriculture applications, and support “national security and first responder capabilities.”
The company’s 86-page filing to the FCC ends by urging the US regulator to approve the second-gen Starlink network as soon as possible. SpaceX is hoping to launch the first second-gen Starlink satellites next month using the company’s Starship craft. However, the Federal Aviation Administration still needs to complete an environmental assessment of the SpaceX launch site in Texas before the first orbital test flight of Starship can take off.
