To close out 2025, the Space Bureau has conducted one last check of its open docket list, adding a final name to its packed post-President’s Day comment window. An end of year Public Notice asks commenters to refresh the record on a five-year old rulemaking that proposes permitting non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite systems to communicate with fixed earth stations mounted on moving platforms—known as Earth Stations in Motion (ESIMs)—in additional frequency bands, including the 28.35–28.6 GHz band. The proceeding, which followed in earnest on successive proceedings to expand ESIM availability across the Fixed-satellite service beginning in geostationary satellite orbit (GSO) and then in NGSO, has stagnated in recent years.
In 2020, the FCC tentatively authorized NGSO ESIMs in the 28.4-28.6 GHz band while deferring action on the 28.35-28.4 GHz portion of the band pending further study of out-of-band emissions vis-à-vis Upper Microwave Flexible Use Services (UMFUS) in the adjacent 27.5-28.35 GHz band. Similar to other proceedings in the millimeterwave bands, the Bureau is requesting commenters update the record to provide any new or updated information or studies on the proposed emission limits, as well as the UMFUS and ESIM technologies deployed in their respective bands and any anticipated uses of these services.
Comments are due January 21, 2026; reply comments are due February 5, 2026. Interested parties are advised that this proceeding is intended to run in parallel with—and does not duplicate the efforts of—the on-going Space Modernization or Facilitating More Intensive Use of Upper Microwave Flexible Use Spectrum rulemakings. Any rules adopted in this proceeding shall be incorporated into the applicable rule section—Part 25 or Part 100—as and if applicable.
For more information about the above Public Notice, submitting comments, or NGSO satellite systems and ESIMs generally, please contact a member of Pillsbury’s Communications Practice Group.