Project 2025 Tracker / What’s done, what’s next

28. Federal Communications Commission · Minor

Speed FCC review and approval of new satellite applications

Partially done

855 28. Federal Communications Commission

“The FCC should expedite its work to support this new technology by acting more quickly in its review and approval of applications to launch new satellites.”

What has happened

  1. Partially done

    The FCC adopted a Second Report and Order of measures to expedite space and earth station approvals under part 25: it eliminates the requirement to file certain license modification applications, removes outdated rules, and gives regulatory certainty to the ground-station-as-a-service model. A mechanism delivered rather than the whole ask — the Commission's own framing is that licensing activity is growing in number and complexity, and nothing on an allowlisted source measures whether decisions are actually faster.

Research log

What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence

Research notes

  • The larger overhaul is still a proposal, so it is noted rather than leveled: Space Modernization for the 21st Century (proposed rule 2025-22019, 2025-12-05) proposes a “licensing assembly line” routing applications down different paths and segmenting them for review, which the Commission says would dramatically accelerate space review. If it is adopted, this item should be re-read for done.
  • Adjacent in-window satellite proceedings, none of which is about processing speed: Satellite Spectrum Abundance (2025-11966, 2025-06-27), Modernizing Spectrum Sharing for Satellite Broadband (proposed 2025-10799, final 2026-09565), NGSO spectrum sharing (2025-14506) and Spectrum Abundance for Weird Space Stuff (2026-06865, 2026-04-09).
  • Space launch frequency coordination moved too, on the NTIA side rather than the FCC’s: a space launch frequency coordinator selection mechanism (2025-07641, 2025-05-02) and NTIA’s Space Launch Frequency Coordination Portal going live (2026-06739, 2026-04-08). That is coordination of launch spectrum, not review of satellite license applications.
Action
other
Object
FCC review of satellite launch applications
ID
2211