Kineis and Myriota Talk Constellation Mass Fee Issues With FCC

Non-geostationary orbit satellite operators Kineis and Myriota are urging the FCC to incorporate a satellite system's mass into determining the regulatory fees that a satellite operator is charged. In a docket 24-85 filing posted Friday, Kineis recapped meetings with staffers from the four FCC commissioners' offices. Kineis told them that its system parameters are similar to the small satellite category envisioned in the space regulatory fee alternatives proceeding (see 2502260017), but those parameters are also very different from virtually all systems other than Myriota's. Kineis said that while other countries often look at frequency use in determining regulatory fees, Kineis' frequency use in the U.S. is much less than many small satellite systems. While the fee alternatives Further NPRM would have it pay close to $145,000 annually in regulatory fees, Kineis said paying two to three times the small satellite regulatory fee -- which would be $25,000 to $35,000 -- would be appropriate for its network. The number of satellites in a constellation doesn't directly correlate with its regulatory burden and complexity, and it's necessary to factor in the total mass of satellites because it's a proxy for characteristics that implicate complexity and regulatory burden, like greater frequency use and larger potential for orbital debris, Kineis said. Recapping meetings with the office of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and the Space Bureau, Myriota also backed incorporating system mass into regulatory fees.