Starlink, Kuiper Eager for More Spectrum, Higher Power
The FCC is looking to ditch international power level limits in some bands.
WASHINGTON, August 5, 2025 – Satellite operators are excited about the prospect of two gifts from federal regulators: more airwaves and higher power limits.
The Federal Communications Commission is looking to foster the burgeoning low-earth orbit satellite space by giving operators like Elon Musk’s SpaceX more spectrum to work with, and instituting looser interference protections in some bands.
“By opening broad swaths of spectrum for satellite use under a streamlined light-licensing framework, the Commission will enable satellite operators to rapidly expand their services to keep pace with ever-increasing customer demand for high-speed connectivity and extend America’s leadership in space,” SpaceX wrote in a filing last week.
The agency opened a docket earlier this year seeking input on opening up the 12.7 GigaHertz (GHz) band to satellite downlinks and opening the 43 GHz, 51.4-52.4 GHz and other, higher frequencies for satellite use, and another proposing to move away from international interference protection rules for the 10.7-12.7, 17.3-18.6, and 19.7-20.2 GHz bands to accommodate higher power levels. LEO satellites share the latter three bands with geo-stationary orbit satellites.
Amazon’s Kuiper Systems and SpaceX had asked for the various rule makings. Comments came in last week.
“Modernizing the GSO-NGSO sharing framework would unshackle next-generation satellite systems and deliver an immediate and dramatic increase in the number of people with access to truly high-speed, low-latency, and resilient broadband connectivity,” SpaceX said in a separate filing.
SES, which operates GSO satellites, said the agency should not move off the international standard unilaterally, partly because it could be complicated to implement. The company said the FCC should wait for ongoing international studies of the band to progress more.
Groups of meteorologists urged caution on adding users to the 52 GHz band and some of the higher, so-called “W-band” frequencies. Bands adjacent to the ones the FCC is considering opening up are used to collect data that helps predict natural disasters and forecast weather, and the researchers worried about interference. They said comprehensive studies should be done before any bands were opened up, as the data collection couldn’t be moved elsewhere.
“The properties of the atmosphere are defined by the laws of physics and chemistry and cannot be changed to optimize spectrum allocation,” the scientists wrote.
Consumer advocacy groups largely joined the LEO operators in supporting the FCC’s efforts to open up more airwaves for satellite broadband, which they said would make it easier for new companies to enter the market and boost capacity. They also said the international power level limits were outdated and were hobbling LEO broadband service in the U.S.
New America’s Open Technology Institute and Public Knowledge joined filings in both dockets.
Moving from the international power level limits “will hugely boost LEO satellite capacity and service quality by allowing constellations to deploy more beams at higher power and over more spectrum in the bands NGSOs share with GSOs,” Michael Calabrese, director of OTI’s Wireless Future project, said in an email.
Early data shows SpaceX and Kuiper have been bidding aggressively in some states for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program grants. The Trump administration instituted new rules for the program that make it easier for satellite operators and others to compete with fiber on the basis of deployment cost, where the LEOs have an advantage.
Calabrese said the proceedings were both “fairly consequential because these changes (more spectrum, more power) are central to Starlink’s plan to increase capacity by at least 10X.”
The major wireless carriers, for their part, were wary about upping power limits, because providers like AT&T have built out terrestrial networks using the same spectrum at issue in that proceeding. Those were deployed under the existing constraints, and the company and CTIA wanted studies done before any steps were taken.
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