Senate Commerce okays bill to fast-track FCC satellite approvals for rural internet

A key Senate committee voted Thursday to approve a plan that would break through the red tape that has slowed the development of satellite-based broadband across the United States, potentially reshaping internet access for millions of Americans in rural places.

The Senate Commerce Committee passed the measure following amendments pushed by Senator Maria Cantwell, the panel’s top Democrat. Her office said the changes were designed to ensure the Federal Communications Commission keeps a close eye on new satellites before they get the green light, a nod to concerns that the approval process could move too fast without proper checks.

Cruz and Welch lead the push

The bill was first introduced in January by Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, a Republican, and Democratic Senator Peter Welch. Their goal was to give satellite companies clearer rules to work with while simultaneously opening up faster internet to parts of the country that have long gone without it.

Cruz has argued the current FCC application process is stuck in the past and not built to handle today’s pace of satellite launches. “We have more rocket launches and satellite deployments today than ever before,” he said.

“However, innovative companies that seek to expand broadband access to Americans are facing a regulatory process that is outdated, leading to massive delays in the deployment of new satellite technologies.”

The timing of the bill’s advancement is difficult to ignore. Just under two weeks ago, Elon Musk’s SpaceX filed a request to launch a constellation of one million satellites that would circle the Earth and use solar power to run artificial intelligence data centers in orbit.

That filing, submitted on January 30, marked one of the most sweeping proposals ever put before federal regulators. The company already has roughly 9,500 satellites in service and recently won FCC approval to deploy another 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites, pushing its total network even further.

The surge in satellite applications has created a backlog at the FCC that the new legislation is directly aimed at addressing. Analysts say that by clearing the bottleneck, approval timelines could shrink from years to months, potentially speeding up deployments by 30 to 50 percent based on the size of existing backlogs.

According to FCC figures, about 19 million Americans in rural areas still lack access to high-speed internet, and backers of the bill say faster satellite licensing is one of the most direct ways to address that.

Concerns over interference remain

Still, not everyone is comfortable with the idea of imposing a rigid clock on the approval process. Cantwell raised red flags about a system that could effectively hand out permits through government inaction.

“I’m very anxious about a process, particularly with interference, that just says negligence by the FCC gets you your permits for a million satellites,” she said during committee debate.

Her office added that the final version of the bill ensures FCC experts, not a blanket timeline, decide which applications qualify for faster review. “We all want faster licensing, but we made sure the FCC’s experts set the rules for what gets fast-tracked, not a one-size-fits-all shot clock that treats a ground antenna the same as a million satellite constellations,” her office said.

The bill still requires the FCC to confirm that newly approved satellites will not disrupt signals for existing users, and to determine whether untested designs warrant additional scrutiny before moving forward.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has thrown its support behind the legislation, calling it a necessary update to keep American companies competitive. Industry forecasts put the global satellite sector on track to contribute $1 trillion to the world economy by 2040.

The drive comes as China files a request with the International Telecommunication Union for more than 200,000 satellites, the largest such petition on record, adding urgency to the United States’ attempts to maintain its space leadership.

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