In an effort to more effectively keep pace with and reduce the burdens on the rapidly evolving and expanding commercial space sector, the FCC has unanimously adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing a comprehensive restructuring and reform of its long-standing space and earth station licensing rules. With its breadth of scope and potential impacts across the space ecosystem, the NPRM also highlights the key role the Commission will play in advancing the Trump administration’s broader objective of enhancing American greatness in space and facilitating U.S. leadership and innovation.
In “Permissionless Innovation: The FCC’s Conceptual Shift for Space and Earth Station Licensing in the United States,” colleagues Jodi A. Goldberg and Betsy Craig explore how the NPRM is a public reminder that, through its statutory mandate to regulate the radiofrequency spectrum in the public interest, the FCC’s licensing authority over space operations has long extended beyond traditional communication satellites and their associated earth stations.
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