Analysis of Geostationary Federal Communications Commission Satellite Applications from 2000 to 2022

Abstract

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) acts as the de facto gatekeeper to space for all commercial satellites, so filings to the commission can detail the direction of the industry. Between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2021, the Commission’s International Bureau (IB) received 3289 geostationary (GEO) satellite filings from 180 distinct companies. GEO satellite filings are in decline, with their 262 applications peak reached in 2003 versus only 69 in 2021. One contributing factor is the steady decline of satellite TV subscribers. Ku band was the most requested frequency band with its ideal combination of bandwidth and resistance to rain fade, but 10 GHz of potential E-band bandwidth remains unused due to technological barriers. Approximately 69.8% of applications were granted, followed by 9.6% withdrawn, and only 7.7% were denied or dismissed, but the top 12 filers constituted only 3.8% of all applications dismissed, meaning that smaller filers’ applications were far less likely to be granted. An application took 172 days on average to be acted on, but Special Temporary Authority applications, which make up 43.7% of all applications, took only 43 days on average. The most requested legal waivers were for frequency allocations, telemetry signals, orbital debris mitigation, and file formatting.