AT&T Challenges SpaceX SCS STA Request

Any FCC Wireless Bureau authorization of commercial supplemental coverage from space (SCS) operations should be through a waiver-based approach, AT&T said Tuesday in docket 23-135. Citing SpaceX's proposed use of T-Mobile spectrum, AT&T said that requires waivers, and SpaceX's special temporary authority application filed last week contains none of the needed waiver requests. It said the novel testing SpaceX proposes should be handled by an experimental license. In its STA application, SpaceX asked for 60 days starting Dec. 1 to launch and test its second-generation satellites with direct-to-mobile payloads as they connect with unmodified mobile phones using T-Mobile's PCS G Block spectrum.