Minutes → milliseconds (12/13/22)

Good morning. Got any year-end predictions or hot takes on what 2023 will bring in the realm of space? Drop us a line and let us know what you’re thinking.

In today's newsletter:🖥️ Licensing revamp? 🎧 Pathfinder #0027🔁 On the move

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Speeding it Up at the FCC

Late last month, the FCC released a notice of proposed rulemaking that aimed to significantly cut down the red tape surrounding satellite licensing. Now, the commission says that it will discuss the revisions to its licensing procedures as part of its Space Innovation agenda on Dec. 21.

The notice falls under a larger trend led by the National Space Council to streamline the application process American companies must go through to fly in non-GEO orbits (with a pretty obvious focus on LEO). In its notice, the FCC points to the “unprecedented” volume of license applications accumulating on its desk in recent years.

The topics up for discussion include:

• Considering applications from companies that seek to operate in frequency bands without international allocations

• Allowing companies to seek licenses for more than one unbuilt LEO system in the same frequency band at once

• Helping applicants reduce the number of errors in their applications, and revising the commission’s response to errors when they come up

• Figuring out a reasonable timeline for processing satellite applications

• Any other potential ways to cut down the waiting period for licenses

Word from the House: Support is building in Congress for a licensing revamp as well. Last week, Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced two bills targeting the satellite licensing process:

1. The Satellite and Telecommunications Streamlining Act would set time limits for application decisions and slim down the application renewal process.

2. The Secure Space Act would prevent the FCC from granting LEO and other non-GEO licenses to entities deemed national security risks.

“America is leading the way in next-generation satellite technologies, which are contributing to a revolution in the communications marketplace,” Pallone and Rodgers said in a joint statement. “To make sure the US–not China–continues to lead this global industry, we must streamline our regulatory processes to unleash innovation while also ensuring our laws fully protect the American public.”

…and the White House: Rumor has it that President Biden is also drafting an executive order to streamline the licensing processes for launch and satellite deployment. While few details about this order are publicly available yet, Reuters reports that it would include creating an online portal to help companies navigate the satellite licensing process across various government agencies.

The upshot: The US government is feeling the pressure to ramp up satellite approvals in LEO before its competitors. The National Space Council, headed by VP Kamala Harris, has made speed a top priority as it seeks to position the US as the dominant spacefaring nation.

Pathfinder #0027, featuring Katherine Monson

What if you could cut the time for data to be relayed from space to Earth from half an hour to milliseconds?

That’s the vision of Hedron. Formerly known as Analytical Space, Hedron is developing a network of data relay satellites that it says “will connect space to Earth in real-time.” It raised a nearly $18M Series A last year and brought on a new management team, including now-COO Katherine Monson.

She’s the former CEO of KSAT Inc., the American division of Kongsberg Satellite Services. Before that, she was an early employee of Spire Global ($SPIR). Katherine joins us today on the Pathfinder podcast to discuss:

• Hedron’s go-to-market strategy

• High capital-intensity industries and high-stakes negotiations

• A total overhaul of space communications infrastructure

• Tapping into the “maturity” of space supply chains

• New applications enabled by rapidly delivered space data

• The three rules of building telecom networks

Hedron has played its cards relatively close to the vest this year, so this was an eye-opening convo about the startup’s technology, strategy, and outlook for the next few years.

Where to get Pathfinder #0027

📺Watch on YouTube 🎧 Tune in via Spotify

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In Other News

• The SDA has delayed its first Tranche 0 launch for the National Defense Space Architecture to March due to a glitch with the satellites.

• SOFIA will fly for the final time today. 🫡

• The US carried out its first full, successful test flight of an air-launched hypersonic missile. In the test, the Air Force’s AGM-183A missile reached speeds greater than Mach 5.

• Orbital Assembly announced a new hosted payload service for its planned space stations.

• Space-Tech, a Florida-based startup aiming to build modular satellites for the DoD, emerged from stealth.

• NASA is in talks with the UAE to contribute an airlock to the Gateway lunar station.

Payload Insights

Euroconsult has released its latest flagship report on “‘satellites to be build and launched.”’ Here are the headline takeaways: