FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel today announced a plan to reorganize the FCC with a new Space Bureau to better manage the growing satellite industry.
The plan involves a reorganization of the FCC’s International Bureau into a new Space Bureau and a standalone Office of International Affairs.
It’s all part of efforts to ensure that the FCC’s resources are better aligned so that the agency can continue to fulfill its statutory obligations and keep pace with the rapidly changing satellite industry and global communications policy.
“Today the FCC has before it applications for 64,000 new satellites. 64,000. But it is not just satellites. Last year we also saw an eight-fold increase in the number of applications for fixed satellite service gateway earth stations filed at the agency,” Rosenworcel said in comments before the Satellite Industry Association (SIA) on Thursday. “On top of that, we are seeing new applications for novel space activities like lunar landers, space tugs that can deploy other satellites, and space antenna farms that can relay communications.”
In a press release outlining the changes, Rosenworcel said the satellite industry is growing at a record pace while the FCC’s regulatory frameworks for licensing them have not kept up.
By establishing a stand-alone Space Bureau, the agency aims to not only better fulfill its statutory obligations but to elevate the significance of satellite programs and policy within the agency to a level that reflects the importance of the emerging space economy.
In remarks to the SIA, Rosenworcel said satellite service in the U.S. was critical in the aftermath of disasters like Hurricane Ida and in fighting wildfires in the West. It also has provided crucial support to the Ukrainian government and humanitarian organizations half a world away, she said.
She also noted broader changes on the international front, including the designation of the United States candidate, Doreen Bogdan Martin, to lead the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union (ITU), marking the first time in the ITU’s 157-year history that a woman will serve as its Secretary General.
She hinted that there’s more to come in the space and satellite sector. “I think our activities in space are going to change even more in the coming years than they have in the past sixty. I am looking forward to the FCC and the new Space Bureau being a big part of it,” she concluded.