Satcom

In July 2026, the FCC adopted the new Part 100 comms-licensing framework for the authorization of satellite systems and Earth stations in the US.

Years ago, when Starlink first launched its broadband service, SpaceXers would tell me the company internally saw direct-to-cell as the future of the business.

There has been a lot of speculation about how SpaceX is going to achieve its goal of moving from D2C dead zone coverage to taking AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon head-on, tapping into a hundreds of billions in revenue opportunity. 

The FCC is proposing opening unlicensed Bluetooth and Wi-Fi frequencies for space-based comms. 

The FCC’s latest processing round has attracted proposals spanning nearly 140,000 satellites from 13 constellations, kicking off the next battle for valuable satellite spectrum. While many of these constellations may never launch, the filing deadline determines who gains a critical regulatory advantage for years to come.

For many satellite applications, optical links are not worth their cost (often hundreds of thousands of dollars).

TeraWave deep dive.