ARLINGTON, Va. — The Federal Communications Commission is reshaping how it regulates space systems, with national security emerging as a central driver alongside commercial innovation, a top agency official said June 16.
Speaking at the SAE Media Group’s Milsatcom USA conference, Jay Schwarz, chief of the FCC’s space bureau, outlined a series of ongoing reforms aimed at modernizing satellite licensing and opening new spectrum bands. While these efforts are often framed in economic terms, Schwarz said they also reflect a growing focus on supporting U.S. defense capabilities in space.
“A strong national defense very much motivates the work that we’re doing at the FCC,” Schwarz said.
The FCC’s space bureau oversees the licensing of satellites and ground stations, manages spectrum allocation for both geostationary and non-geostationary satellite systems, and regulates how U.S. companies operate in space. As private sector investment in space accelerates — particularly in low-Earth orbit broadband constellations like SpaceX’s Starlink — the FCC has taken steps to streamline approvals and improve coordination across government agencies, he said.
“Not all, but most of the licensees who come to the FCC do have some dimension of national security in their work,” Schwarz said. “Dual use is the name of the game,” he added, meaning that commercial space assets increasingly support military operations.
In response, the FCC is working to expedite licensing processes that can otherwise take years and hinder the deployment of both commercial and defense-related satellite services.
“We know how urgent it is for all of our warfighters to have secure, reliable communications for an increasingly contested space domain,” Schwarz said. “So I care about the economic benefits, but I also care deeply that America’s service members are equipped with what they need.”
One early result of this push is a reduction in the FCC’s licensing backlog. Schwarz said the space bureau has reduced pending applications by 35 percent since January, including those for new space stations and ground infrastructure.
Modernizing regulations for non-geostationary satellite systems is another priority. The FCC is considering revising so-called “power limit” rules aimed at preventing interference between low-orbit constellations and traditional geostationary satellites and earth stations. Schwarz said these reforms could help pave the way for higher-throughput services that rival terrestrial broadband.
“Our hope is that this will be done in a way that ultimately we can get much faster fiber-like throughputs from space,” Schwarz said.
The agency is also weighing whether to open roughly 20,000 megahertz of new spectrum across several underutilized bands, including the 12 GHz, 42 GHz, 52 GHz, and W-band frequencies. Through a formal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FCC is examining how best to modernize access to these bands for satellite communications, which could significantly expand capacity for both commercial and defense use.
The proposed reforms come amid global shifts in spectrum policy, as other nations move to enable next-generation satellite services. Schwarz said the FCC’s initiatives are intended to help keep the U.S. competitive in the rapidly evolving space domain.
“We want to make sure that there’s a wide variety of systems available from which the government can procure services,” he said. “If we supply more spectrum, then existing players, new players, big players, small players—they can all compete.”
Schwarz said FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has made these reforms a priority as the space economy becomes more integrated with national infrastructure and defense planning.
