FCC rejects SpaceX request, tells Musk's company: We dismiss Gen2 Starlink modification applications

The order includes dismissal of SpaceX's and Iridium's petitions for rulemaking to modify the Big LEO bands (1.6 and 2.4 GHz) and to update the band plan, under section 1.401(e). The FCC stated that neither petition provides sufficient justification to disturb the longstanding spectrum plan and noted Globalstar's use of the spectrum for SPOT devices, while signaling that additional uses could cause harmful interference.

The FCC rejected SpaceX's request to use the 1.6/2.4 GHz spectrum used by Globalstar for satellite services and for Starlink Mobile, and rejected SpaceX's request to use the 1.5/1.6 GHz bands formerly authorized for Ligado. The agency dismissed, with prejudice, the portions of SpaceX's Gen2 Starlink modification applications to add operations in the 1525-1559 MHz and 1626.5-1660.5 MHz bands (inside and outside the United States) and its D2C application; it also dismissed SpaceX's Gen2 1.5 GHz and 1.6/2.4 GHz modification application in its entirety. The decision cited no policy or public interest to overhaul the existing spectrum framework and noted interference challenges for incumbent MSS users.

Globalstar expanded its satellite services to power emergency messaging on Apple devices through the SPOT line, described as the first commercially available direct-to-device satellite services since 2022.

The FCC originally gave Globalstar and Iridium exclusive access to the 1.6 GHz and 2.4 GHz spectrum bands to provide regulatory certainty and stability for Big LEO systems.