Musk’s SpaceX Wins Appeal Approving Lower-Altitude Satellites

An FCC decision allowing SpaceX to fly satellites at lower altitudes in order to expand internet service coverage withstood legal challenges from competitors claiming the decision overlooked signal interference and environmental issues, according to a D.C. Circuit ruling issued Friday.

The appeals court disagreed with an objection filed by DISH Network Corp., which accused the Federal Communications Commission of overlooking expert reports showing that SpaceX’s proposal would interfere with DISH’s satellites. The FCC correctly weighed the proposal using its own interference rules and wasn’t obligated to use the purportedly “better method” urged by DISH, the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said.

DISH also accused the commission of wrongly approving the proposal before Elon Musk-founded SpaceX received the blessing of the International Telecommunications Union, a United Nations agency tasked with addressing signal interference internationally. The court disagreed, saying the FCC reasonably waived this requirement in order to avoid long delays in providing internet service to Americans who remain “totally unserved by other broadband solutions.”

The court also considered a challenge brought by satellite communications service provider Viasat Inc., which joined with environmental organization The Balance Group to argue that the FCC wrongly failed to prepare an environmental assessment before approving the proposal.

Viasat lacks standing to press its claims, the court said, in part because one of its theories of injury—that SpaceX’s lower satellites may produce more “space debris"—is too speculative. And Balance Group failed to show that it’s a membership association with organizational standing to assert claims on behalf of its individual members, the court said.

Judge Gregory G. Katsas wrote the opinion. Judges Robert L. Wilkins and Justin R. Walker joined.

SpaceX is represented by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

The FCC represents itself, along with the Department of Justice.

DISH is represented by Steptoe & Johnson LLP.

Viasat represents itself, along with Goodwin Procter LLP.

The Balance Group is represented by Stephen L. Goodman of Alexandria, Va., and Michael Francis Smith of Washington, D.C.

The case is Viasat Inc. v. FCC, D.C. Cir., No. 21-1123, 8/26/22.