Earth station freeze. On May 10, the FCC published a notice of its earth station freeze in the Federal Register to:
announce a temporary freeze, effective April 19, 2018, on the filing of new or modification applications for fixed-satellite service (FSS) earth station licenses, receive-only earth station registrations, and fixed microwave licenses in the 3.7–4.2 GHz frequency band. As a limited exception to the freeze, the International Bureau concurrently opens a 90-day window during which entities that own or operate existing FSS earth stations in the 3.7–4.2 GHz band may file an application to register or license the earth station if it is currently not registered or licensed, or may file an application to modify a current registration or license, in the International Bureau Filing System (IBFS).
Click on the link above for more detail.
Money. For years I’ve heard that Congress modeled the Commercial Space Launch Act’s financial responsibility requirements on those it established for the nuclear power industry. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) tells launch and reentry operators how much insurance to buy or financial responsibility to demonstrate for damage that might be caused by a launch or reentry under its regulations at 14 CFR part 440. Under its implementing legislation, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) does the same for those who operate nuclear power plants through its regulations at 10 CFR part 140 One difference between the two regimes is that while the FAA has statutory authority to ask Congress to vote on indemnifying the space transportation industry, it does not have true indemnification authority. In other words, it can’t enter into agreements to indemnify the operators for damages in excess of the required insurance. The NRC can.
Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). On May 4, 2018, NASA released a notice of availability for comment a copy of its draft site-wide programmatic EIS. In the notice NASA notes that it expects an increased commercial space presence at Wallops. As background, NASA states:
WFF is a NASA Goddard Space Flight Center field installation located in northern Accomack County on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The facility consists of three distinct landmasses—the Main Base, Wallops Mainland, and Wallops Island. WFF operates the oldest active launch range in the continental U.S. and the only range completely under NASA management. For over 70 years, WFF has flown thousands of research vehicles….
NASA has prepared a draft EIS because NOAA, the Navy, and Wallops itself propose new facilities and infrastructure improvements.
Spectrum management. The NTIA is holding a public meeting on June 12, 2018. The meeting will focus on:
the development and implementation of national spectrum policies to support continuing U.S. leadership and innovation in wireless telecommunications and other spectrum-dependent technologies.
NTIA serves as the President’s principal adviser on telecommunications policies, and establishes policies concerning use of the radio spectrum by federal agencies.