“The Department continues to support domestic 5G options, but not at the risk of crippling our GPS networks,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper tweeted yesterday after the FCC vote.
By Theresa HitchensROC-X – The solution to organic precision strike capabilities
At AUSA Global Force 2024, IAI presented integrated, AI-driven combat systems – both manned and unmanned – that are opening new opportunities on the battlefield.
The independent FCC seemingly “wrote these proposed rules mostly (if not entirely) in a vacuum, potentially failing to ensure White House directions in Space Policy Directives 1-through-4 were fully accounted for,” said one USG official with an eye on the debate.
By Theresa Hitchens
“As far as I know the Pentagon doesn’t have a ‘death ray,’ but the nearest thing it has is GPS Kryptonite: when you get close enough to GPS to interfere: you die,” one veteran space industry watcher joked about the FCC Chair’s decision to approve Ligado’s 5g approach.
By Theresa Hitchens
“It is DoD’s position that FCC approval of Ligado’s license modification would cause unacceptable operational impacts to the warfighter and adversely affect the military potential of GPS by negatively impacting GPS receivers,” said Air Force GPS Executive Agent Thu Luu in a protest letter in February.
By Theresa Hitchens
“The bond requirement is a great way to ensure that no one licenses in the US, and the indemnification requirement is vague” one industry source said.
By Theresa Hitchens
“I see no reason why a satellite the size of a shoebox, with the life expectancy of a guinea pig, should be regulated the same way as a spacecraft the size of a school bus that will stay in orbit for centuries,” says FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.
By Theresa Hitchens
“It is rocket science, after all,” says Trump-appointed FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who questions the commission’s mandate on orbital debris mitigation oversight for commercial space companies.
By Theresa Hitchens
How to unlock innovation and savings for DoD: “commercial,” not COTS
Overmatch is fleeting and while traditional acquisitions can’t always keep up with new threats, a different and approved practice can.
“I think it will be incumbent on governments pretty soon to force operators to have some way to get their satellite out of the way [when it fails] and get it into a proper graveyard orbit,” says Michael Pollack, who does business development for Effective Space.
By Theresa Hitchens
