September 23, 2022

BY ELECTRONIC FILING
Marlene H. Dortch
Secretary
Federal Communications Commission
45 L Street, N.E.
Washington, DC 20554

Re: Application of Space Exploration Holdings, LLC,

IBFS File No. SAT-MOD-20220906-00100

Dear Ms. Dortch:

SpaceX has proposed a mobile satellite service (“MSS”) system that will unlock mobile
connectivity for Americans far beyond the reach of current terrestrial data networks.1 Nonetheless,
Globalstar requests that the Commission block SpaceX—or anyone, ever—from using portions of
the Big LEO MSS band, so Globalstar can retain exclusive control over the band. But Globalstar’s
response misses the Commission’s fundamental objective in allocating the band—a competitive
market where multiple co-frequency operators efficiently share critical spectrum resources. While
SpaceX is ready, able, and willing to coordinate with other MSS systems, Globalstar appears
entirely unwilling to even try. Instead, Globalstar claims that it is entitled in perpetuity to exclusive
rights to the spectrum,2 despite the band allocation,3 Globalstar’s license,4 and the entire
proceeding record5 definitively establishing the opposite. The Commission should maintain its
commitment to competition by granting SpaceX’s application to share the band.

The Commission has always envisioned MSS systems sharing the 1610-1617.775 MHz
and 2483.5-2500 MHz bands (the “1.6/2.4 GHz bands”). In the Big LEO Order, the Commission
required spectrum sharing between code-division multiple access operators, citing its desire to

1
As referenced herein, SpaceX includes Space Exploration Holdings, LLC and its parent company, Space
Exploration Technologies Corp.
2
Letter from L. Barbee Ponder IV to Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary, FCC, IBFS File No. SAT-MOD-20220906-
00100 (Sept. 15, 2022) (“Globalstar Letter”) (“Globalstar is eager to compete with MSS systems operating on
unused or otherwise available spectrum, but the Commission should summarily reject [other] requests.”).
3
INT’L TELECOMM. UNION, Final Acts of the World Admin. Radio Conference (WARC-92), Malaga-Torremolinos
(1992); Report and Order, ET Docket No. 92-28, 9 FCC Rcd 536 (1994) (Allocation Order).
4
See, e.g., Loral/Qualcomm Partnership, L.P., Order and Authorization, DA 95-128, 10 FCC Rcd 2333
(“Globalstar License”). At the time of its application, Globalstar filed a statement agreeing that the bands cited
here should be reserved for sharing, as originally proposed by the Commission. See Letter from Philip L. Verveer,
Counsel for LQL, to William F. Canton, Acting secretary, FCC, CC Docket No. 92-166 (dated Sept. 13, 1994).
5
See generally Big LEO Order, Big LEO Spectrum Sharing Order, and Big LEO Spectrum Rebalancing Order,
infra at nn. 6-8.

1155 F St NW, Suite 475, Washington, DC 20004 | phone 202.649.2700 | fax 202.649.2701 | spacex.com
Marlene H. Dortch
September 23, 2022
Page 2 of 4
 
promote multiple firm entry and maximize spectral efficiency.6 Even after changes in the market,
the Commission retained its policy in favor of sharing the band. And when the Commission later
considered,7 and then reconsidered,8 restructuring assignments in the band, the sharing policy still
remained. Thus, today, the sharing policy remains unchanged from its inception in 1994—
Globalstar must coordinate its use of the band with co-frequency operators to best serve the
American public.

Globalstar, however, misreads these same Commission precedents to claim that it is

entitled to market exclusivity in the guise of “regulatory certainty.” For example, Globalstar
transforms the Commission’s objectives of long-term certainty and stability for MSS services in
the Big LEO Spectrum Rebalancing Order into a blanket foreclosure of market entry and
competition. But in the excerpt that Globalstar cites, the Commission was seeking only to avoid
harmful interference unique to the two different modularity schemes employed by Globalstar and
adjacent incumbent operator Iridium.9 The Commission’s narrow finding was that avoiding
interference between these two technologies would provide certainty and stability. But critically,
the Commission never concluded that other operators should be forever banned from entry and
that Globalstar would be given exclusive rights in perpetuity.

Moreover, Globalstar fails to mention explicit determinations by the Commission that

support that the band is intended to be shared. For example, a mere four paragraphs down from
the statement that Globalstar cites, the Commission makes its position abundantly clear:

The Commission found [in the Big LEO Spectrum Sharing Order] that Globalstar
never had any unconditional right to the spectrum in which the Commission
allowed sharing . . . . Globalstar’s rights to that spectrum had always been subject
to sharing with other satellite systems . . . . [W]e affirm our determination in the
Big LEO Spectrum Sharing Order on this issue.10

In other words, the Commission found that Globalstar was never granted exclusivity in the
1.6/2.4 GHz bands and, to the contrary, the Commission has repeatedly and consistently
recognized the potential for a shared spectrum environment as best serving the American public.

6
See Amendment of the Commission’s Rules to Establish Rules and Policies Pertaining to a Mobile Satellite
Service in the 1610-1626.5/2483.5-2500 MHz Frequency Bands, CC Docket No. 92-166, Report and Order, FCC
94-261, 9 FCC Rcd 5936, ¶ 43 (1994) (Big LEO Order).
7
   See Review of the Spectrum Sharing Plan Among Non-Geostationary Satellite Orbit Mobile Satellite Service
Systems in the 1.6/2.4 GHz Bands, Report and Order, Fourth Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking, 19 FCC Rcd 13386, FCC 04-134, ¶ 86 (2004) (Big LEO Spectrum Sharing Order).
8
Spectrum and Service Rules for Ancillary Terrestrial Components in the 1.6/2.4 GHz Big Leo Bands/Review of
the Spectrum Sharing Plan Among Non-Geostationary Satellite Orbit Mobile Satellite Service Systems in the
1.6/2.4 GHz Bands, Second Order on Reconsideration, Second Report and Order and Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking, 22 FCC Rcd 19733, FCC 07-194, ¶¶ 21-25 (2007) (Big LEO Spectrum Rebalancing Order). 
9
Big LEO Spectrum Rebalancing Order ¶ 17.
10
Big LEO Spectrum Rebalancing Order ¶ 21; see also Big LEO Spectrum Sharing Order ¶ 86.

1155 F St NW, Suite 475, Washington, DC 20004 | phone 202.649.2700 | fax 202.649.2701 | spacex.com
Marlene H. Dortch
September 23, 2022
Page 3 of 4
 
SpaceX is committed to promoting a valuable competitive market for MSS services, one
that allows Globalstar and SpaceX to share the 1.6/2.4 GHz bands and satisfy consumer demand,
stimulate economic growth in the sector, and promote further investment and entry. Access to
these bands will enable SpaceX to support a compelling array of services for connecting
Americans wherever they are. Nonetheless, Globalstar provides a thinly veiled attempt to preempt
these benefits with puzzling rationales. The Commission should refuse Globalstar’s invitation to
reward systems that are specifically designed to be incapable of sharing spectrum and operators
who are intolerant of coordination.

If Globalstar is using each band in its entirety—as it currently claims—its alleged inability
to coordinate is perplexing. In its recent Form 8-K filing at the Securities and Exchange
Commission,11 Globalstar describes a partnership agreement with Apple, Inc., that binds it to retain
only “15% of network capacity to support its existing and future Duplex, SPOT and IoT
subscribers. This capacity can support an approximately fifty-fold increase in its own subscriber
base following recent and planned investments in the Company’s space and ground segments.”12
If Globalstar can support a fifty-fold increase in subscribers on only 15% of its network capacity,
it should also be able to find ways to share the available capacity with others as the Commission
intended.

Although Globalstar argues that it has relied on the Commission’s prior authorization,13
Globalstar’s license to operate in the 1.6/2.4 GHz bands specifically contemplates sharing
available capacity in those bands with other MSS providers that can bring valuable services to
American consumers.14 And SpaceX is committed to coordinating with co-frequency MSS
operators, as it has in other bands.15 Indeed, in the shared MSS regime that the Commission
established, recent innovations as well as coordination will help realize a robust MSS ecosystem
that enhances industry confidence.

Last, Globalstar incorrectly states that anyone applying to share spectrum must
demonstrate a complete, validated coordination arrangement in its initial application.16 No such
demonstration is either required or possible. Instead, the coordination rules at the ITU require
coordination between licensed satellite systems in good faith, irrespective of the filing date.17
Coordination requires both parties to understand how the other system works—an understanding

11
See GLOBALSTAR, INC., Quarterly Report (Form 8-K), at Item 7.01 (Sept. 7, 2022), available at
https://sec.report/Document/0001366868-22-000059/.
12
Id.
13
Globalstar Letter at 3.
14
   Globalstar License at 2333.
15
   See, e.g., Application of Space Exploration Holdings, LLC for Modification to Deploy a 1.6/2.4 GHz Mobile-
Satellite System, IBFS File No. SAT-MOD-20220906-00100, Narrative Attachment at 9 (Sept. 6, 2022)
(“SpaceX Application”). 
16
   Notwithstanding this incorrect determination, SpaceX acknowledges Globalstar’s concerns regarding a
Schedule S missing from the IBFS database. The Schedule S was timely filed with, and accompanied, its
application. SpaceX has reached out to the Commission to resolve the issue and, as a secondary measure, filed
a notice attaching a reference copy of the Schedule S. 
17
ITU RR. 9.11(a); 9.12.

1155 F St NW, Suite 475, Washington, DC 20004 | phone 202.649.2700 | fax 202.649.2701 | spacex.com
Marlene H. Dortch
September 23, 2022
Page 4 of 4

that is only possible after good faith discussions. SpaceX is confident that both systems can coexist
and is willing to begin coordination discussions with Globalstar immediately.

SpaceX urges the Commission to grant approval of its proposed MSS system in the
1.6/2.4 GHz bands. SpaceX is eager to offer MSS services while engaging in efficient
coordination of scarce spectrum resources between operators. Together, these systems can enable
new services to reach consumers throughout every corner of the country.

Sincerely,
/s/ Brett Tarnutzer
Brett Tarnutzer,
Director, Satellite Policy

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP.

1155 F Street, NW
Suite 475
Washington, DC 20004
Tel: 202-649-2700
Email: Brett.Tarnutzer@spacex.com

1155 F St NW, Suite 475, Washington, DC 20004 | phone 202.649.2700 | fax 202.649.2701 | spacex.com