{"id":47340,"date":"2026-03-19T01:41:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T17:41:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/ligado-tells-fcc-that-skyterra-next-proposal-wont-cause-interference\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T01:41:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T17:41:39","slug":"ligado-tells-fcc-that-skyterra-next-proposal-wont-cause-interference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/ligado-tells-fcc-that-skyterra-next-proposal-wont-cause-interference\/","title":{"rendered":"Ligado Tells FCC That SkyTerra Next Proposal Won\u2019t Cause Interference"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

In a new filing to the FCC<\/b>, Ligado<\/b> defended its request to host an L-band payload on AST SpaceMobile <\/strong>satellites, saying the proposal will work within Ligado\u2019s existing L-band coordination agreements and the FCC rules. <\/p>\n

In December, Ligado asked the FCC to modify its satellite license to deploy an L-band payload called SkyTerra Next on AST SpaceMobile\u2019s Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation, in order to operate an L-band mobile satellite system providing service in the U.S. Ligado has stated it would partner with AST SpaceMobile to provide direct-to-device (D2D) mobile satellite service (MSS) in the L-band to improve services to businesses, government users, and consumers in the U.S. where there is no mobile broadband. <\/p>\n

Ligado\u2019s application drew pushback from Iridium, which filed a petition asking the FCC to deny the request earlier this month. Iridium\u2019s petition accused Ligado of spectrum hoarding and argued that the Ligado\/AST SpaceMobile agreement effectively transfers control of Ligado\u2019s license to AST SpaceMobile. <\/p>\n

Other commenters included the GPS Innovation Alliance, which argued that Ligado\u2019s proposal raises substantial questions about harmful interference to GPS services. John Deere, which operates a GPS augmentation system, also filed a comment over its concern for potential impact on its precision agricultural receivers. <\/p>\n

Ligado\u2019s response asserted that SkyTerra Next will comply with FCC requirements and regulations for MSS in the L-band and that it is designed to protect GPS and other adjacent-band services. <\/p>\n

\u201cIridium Communications throws up baseless arguments, some of which are simply irrelevant or perpetuate a naked claim to Ligado\u2019s coordinated spectrum. Not one of these critiques provides a basis for delaying a swift and straightforward grant of the modification,\u201d Ligado told the FCC. <\/p>\n

Ligado also addressed the commercial agreement with AST SpaceMobile and asserted that while AST SpaceMobile will be Ligado\u2019s largest customer for SkyTerra Next, Ligado will still control its spectrum. <\/p>\n

Separately, AST SpaceMobile also filed a statement in support, asking the FCC to grant Ligado\u2019s request. Viasat and the Mobile Satellite Services Association (MSSA) also now support the application. <\/p>\n

Ligado said in a statement that this change to its license and deploying SkyTerra Next would make more efficient use of the company\u2019s licensed L-band spectrum. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis technological upgrade complements the company\u2019s existing SkyTerra-1 operations and would make more intensive and efficient use of Ligado\u2019s existing licensed L-band spectrum,\u201d the company said in a statement. \u201cThis approach would help expand space-based 5G connectivity for U.S. consumers, including in areas where terrestrial coverage is limited while bringing additional innovation and competition to the emerging Direct-to-Device (D2D) market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, Ligado struck a spectrum deal with AST SpaceMobile to give the company L-band mobile satellite spectrum (MSS) spectrum rights in the United States and Canada.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a new filing to the FCC, Ligado defended its request to host an L-band payload on AST SpaceMobile satellites, saying the proposal will work within Ligado\u2019s existing L-band coordination agreements and the FCC rules.  In December, Ligado asked the FCC to modify its satellite license to deploy an L-band payload called SkyTerra Next on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47341,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47340"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47340\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}