{"id":19361,"date":"2016-06-09T21:21:35","date_gmt":"2016-06-09T13:21:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-speaks-up-for-its-seattle-satellite-operation-after-months-of-low-key-work\/"},"modified":"2016-06-09T21:21:35","modified_gmt":"2016-06-09T13:21:35","slug":"spacex-speaks-up-for-its-seattle-satellite-operation-after-months-of-low-key-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-speaks-up-for-its-seattle-satellite-operation-after-months-of-low-key-work\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX speaks up for its Seattle satellite operation after months of low-key work"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"SpaceX
SpaceX\u2019s Redmond office is the center for its satellite operations. (GeekWire photo by Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SpaceX has provided a rare update on its Seattle-centric plans to develop a multibillion-dollar Internet satellite network, saying that the work is now at a \u201ccritical stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

That assessment is part of the company\u2019s argument against giving away the bandwidth required for such a network for another purpose \u2013 specifically, for 5G mobile broadband services that would be offered by Dish Network and other members of an industry coalition.<\/p>\n

The Multi-Channel Video Distribution and Data Service Coalition filed a petition on Wednesday with the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday, asking that the Ku-band spectrum currently being reserved for satellite broadband should be reallocated for 5G services.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is simply no basis to jeopardize 5G deployment to give additional spectrum to a speculative NGSO (non-geostationary orbit) service that already has access to ample spectrum,\u201d the MVDDS Coalition told the FCC.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=t3qcDW3xkg4<\/p>\n

The coalition said the bandwidth reserved between 12.2 and 12.7 GHz was just sitting unused, and that it could use the spectrum instead to provide \u201cfaster speeds, enhanced connection ublquity and truly real-time services and applications\u201d to 5G customers.<\/p>\n

That brought a quick response from SpaceX as well as from Intelsat, one of the partners in a competing Internet satellite venture led by OneWeb. Intelsat told the FCC that OneWeb already has a pending FCC application seeking access to the reserved frequencies, and that the bandwidth \u201cwill not lie fallow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another satellite operator, SES, said it plans to use the bandwidth as well and was \u201calarmed by the prospect\u201d that it might be reallocated.<\/p>\n

<\/span> The petition comes at precisely the wrong time.<\/span><\/p>\n

In her filing, SpaceX\u2019s Patricia Cooper wrote that the coalition\u2019s request \u201ccomes at precisely the wrong time, given the ongoing, active investment and technological developments\u201d relating to Internet satellite services.<\/p>\n

Seventeen months ago, SpaceX unveiled its plans to develop a multibillion-dollar Internet satellite network, with much of the work being done at offices in Redmond, Wash. Since then, the company hasn\u2019t said much about how things are going. In fact, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said last October that the satellite plan was \u201cactually very speculative at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

OneWeb has taken a higher profile: One of the partners in the venture is Airbus Defense and Space, which is gearing up to build hundreds of small satellites that would be launched into low Earth orbit starting in late 2017 or early 2018. In April, OneWeb Satellites said it would build a satellite manufacturing facility near NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. And just last week, the company announced that it had signed supply contracts with MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates in Canada, Sodern in France and Teledyne Defense in Britain.<\/p>\n

Although SpaceX has downplayed its plans, there are ample signs of activity. For instance, plane-watchers noted last month that the company\u2019s billionaire founder, Elon Musk, made a quick stopover in the Seattle area \u2013 presumably to visit the Redmond office. (SpaceX provided no information about the visit.)<\/p>\n