OW19: Bureaucracy, Bandwidth & Blatant Power Move

2025, May 2-9

Starlink’s Indian Bureaucracy Meets the Final Frontier

After months of regulatory whack-a-mole and bureaucratic limbo that would make Kafka proud, Starlink has finally been granted conditional approval to operate in India. That’s right, Elon Musk now has the green light to beam the internet straight from space into the subcontinent, provided he tiptoes around a 4% revenue cut and hands over 500 rupees per urban user like some sort of orbital toll booth.

Musk had begged for a 20-year spectrum lease (because why plan short-term when you’re terraforming Mars?), but TRAI politely replied with a bureaucratic “meh” and offered him five years and a pat on the head. Meanwhile, Reliance Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, who spent years pretending not to notice Starlink, have now cozied up to distribute terminals. What was once a telecom turf war now looks more like a polite family dinner where everyone agrees not to mention the in-laws.

And because no Musk move is complete without a little intergovernmental seasoning, the U.S. has reportedly been whispering sweet nothings into the ears of Indian regulators, gently nudging them toward Starlink approval during unrelated (wink-wink) trade talks. Naturally, American diplomats are definitely not linking Starlink’s fate to tariff negotiations. Nope, not at all.

Meanwhile, back in D.C., a few Democrats are side-eyeing this whole thing and demanding an investigation into whether cozy government cheerleading for a private company might, just might, constitute a conflict of interest. But I mean, who hasn’t used international diplomacy to push satellite broadband lately?

FCC’s Spectrum Shuffle The Great Reallocation

Over at the FCC, it’s spring cleaning season again, and what better way to freshen up than by dusting off some forgotten GHz bands and repackaging them as tomorrow’s golden ticket? The Commission’s latest love letter to the industry is a draft proposal suggesting that everyone, geostationary or not, should now feel free to play in the 12.7–13.25 GHz and 42–42.5 GHz sandboxes. In other words: “We found some old frequencies behind the regulatory couch. Want ‘em?” Satellite operators, rejoice, you can now plan your business model around spectrum that’s only mostly been spoken for.

Naturally, this move is being dressed up as a visionary leap into a vibrant broadband future, but one suspects it’s more of a panic reaction to the LEO-fueled land grab that’s already halfway around the Earth. After all, nothing says “cutting edge” like removing rules you made decades ago in a hurry and hoping the lawyers don’t notice.

With this spectrum refresh, the FCC is essentially telling the satellite world, “If you squint hard enough, this still looks like good policy.” At the very least, it’s a win for anyone whose business plan reads “Step 1: Get frequency, Step 2: ???, Step 3: Profit.”

SpaceX’s Starlink Adding to the Constellation

Another week, another stack of satellites hurled into orbit by the ever-reliable space cannon known as Falcon 9. On May 9, SpaceX launched 26 more Starlink satellites from Vandenberg, contributing to what’s quickly becoming the most glittery, Elon-branded curtain the night sky has ever seen. This launch, dubbed Starlink 15-3 (because apparently 15-2 was on coffee break), was delayed a few times, but nothing says “mission confidence” like rescheduling a rocket launch as casually as a dentist appointment.

But let’s not pretend this is just about connectivity. This is a planetary-scale game of Monopoly, and SpaceX is currently holding Boardwalk, Park Place, and the surrounding 3,000-or-so LEO properties. The real magic is in the marketing, turning orbital clutter into a humanitarian cause. “We’re connecting the unconnected,” says the billionaire with a satellite army, casually forgetting that the rest of us still can’t get five bars on Earth without climbing a tree. Meanwhile, astronomers are popping antacids as the sky fills up like Times Square on New Year’s Eve. Progress!

Globalstar’s Expansion Plans New Satellites on the Horizon

Globalstar, that slightly older cousin at the satellite family reunion who shows up with stories about their 90s glory days, has announced plans to deploy 17 shiny new satellites. Great! Except, small catch, they’ve only booked one of the two launches needed. It’s like planning a wedding, paying for the venue, and then realizing you forgot to send the invitations. The satellites, ordered way back in 2022 (which, in satellite terms, is practically the Bronze Age), are finally ready to fly. Now they just need, you know, a rocket.

Still, optimism abounds at Globalstar HQ. Once these birds are airborne, eventually, they’ll refresh the company’s aging constellation like a facelift for orbital infrastructure. Because when your business model hinges on satellites that pre-date TikTok, it’s probably time for a tune-up.

These replacement sats are meant to ensure continuous service to Globalstar’s existing customers, who presumably still use flip phones and swear by BlackBerries. But hey, legacy isn’t always a bad thing. Unless, of course, your backup plan is “hope SpaceX has a coupon code for second launches.”

BlackSky’s Gen-3 Satellite Commissioning Success

Overachievers, assemble! BlackSky completed commissioning of its first Gen-3 satellite on May 6, and naturally, it didn’t just work, it exceeded expectations. Because why just meet your KPIs when you can overshoot them, blindfolded, from orbit? With higher-resolution imagery, faster tasking, and AI-driven analytics, BlackSky’s latest offering basically means Earth can no longer sneeze without someone in a boardroom getting a pixel-perfect GIF of it in under 60 seconds.

The company is now hyping this Gen-3 marvel as a game-changer in “real-time geospatial intelligence”, a term that sounds very cool until you realize it means “we know exactly what you’re doing, and we know it now.” Their pitch to customers? Instant insight, rapid delivery, and imagery so sharp it can probably spot your overdue lawn mowing. It’s a big leap for BlackSky, and a subtle message to their competitors: “We can see your moves before you make them. Literally.”

Rheinmetall and ICEYE New Joint Venture

Because nothing screams “peaceful space exploration” quite like a defense contractor teaming up with a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) company, Rheinmetall and ICEYE have announced a joint venture to bring us… whatever happens when tanks meet satellites. Rheinmetall ICEYE Space Solutions (say that five times fast) will combine Rheinmetall’s defense-industrial muscle with ICEYE’s spooky-accurate radar imaging tech. So yes, we’ve reached the inevitable cyberpunk chapter where militarized remote sensing becomes an off-the-shelf product.

Of course, this JV is still pending regulatory approval, but given that Rheinmetall already builds the sort of things that go boom and ICEYE builds the things that see where to aim, it’s safe to say the merger’s synergy is less “let’s build bridges” and more “let’s know exactly where bridges are before blowing them up.”

Civil applications are mentioned, but let’s not kid ourselves, this is surveillance with style. The kind of orbital tech partnership that makes Cold War generals weep with envy.

Intelsat and AXESS Networks Expanding Connectivity

Intelsat and AXESS Networks have decided that two’s company and three satellites are a party. In their latest “power handshake” moment, they’re expanding their partnership to deliver satellite comms across the Americas. Because nothing says coverage like blending 60 years of orbital experience with a partner that understands how to actually sell that bandwidth to someone not wearing a NASA badge.

The announcement is drenched in the usual buzzwords, “synergy,” “scalability,” “next-gen connectivity”, but the core message is this: these two players want a bigger piece of the Latin America/enterprise pie before Starlink eats it for dessert. Together, they plan to deliver services that promise both reliability and speed, which in satellite terms usually means, “Please ignore the latency while we beam this through the ionosphere.”

It’s a decent move, though, and probably the kind of solid, medium-spice news that makes shareholders nod approvingly while sipping weak coffee.

China’s Regulatory Framework for D2D Services

On May 8, China dropped a regulatory mic by unveiling its official rules for direct-to-device (D2D) satellite services. The message? “We’re here, we’re serious, and yes, your phone will soon talk to space without asking permission from your cellular overlord.” It’s a big step for the Middle Kingdom, giving domestic companies a boost in the race to beam broadband straight to the people, bypassing those pesky towers and letting LEO constellations do the heavy lifting.

Of course, this also means the Chinese government gets a front-row seat to every byte flying through those satellites, but privacy has always been more of a Western hobby anyway. The new framework is a calculated move to fuel tech innovation, boost the commercial satellite sector, and remind the rest of the world that when China says it’s “deploying infrastructure,” they don’t mean slowly or politely.

Expect hardware rollouts, state-backed champions, and a competitive model that makes Western regulation look like nap time in kindergarten.

Emirates Shipping Congress and IEC Telecom Maritime Goes Matrix

And finally, aboard the good ship “Digital Transformation,” the Emirates Shipping Congress and IEC Telecom are going full throttle on smart shipping, AI-powered routing, and satellite-enabled fleet management. At UAE Maritime Week, industry execs clinked their coffee cups while announcing the latest phase in turning ships into floating data centers. Nothing like AI and IoT buzzwords floating through the air while you’re still using paper logs for engine checks.

IEC Telecom waxed lyrical about a future where maritime operations run on real-time analytics and predictive maintenance, because nothing says “future-proof” like convincing a ship captain to trust their engine to an algorithm named Marvin.

But jokes aside, there is something admirable about trying to modernize an industry that, until recently, treated Wi-Fi like a novelty item. If this effort actually sticks, it could transform maritime VSAT from a luxury into a necessity, which means fewer Netflix outages in the middle of the Gulf. So maybe the future is afloat after all.

The Space Soap Opera Continues

And there you have it: a week in the satellite industry so packed with announcements, launches, regulations, and speculative optimism that you’d be forgiven for thinking we were launching a new orbital season of Succession.

From Elon Musk sweet-talking regulators while swapping spectrum for tea and diplomacy, to legacy satellite companies digging through their couch cushions for spare launch slots, the space race of 2025 is less “bold new frontier” and more “midlife crisis with a star map.”

If this week proved anything, it’s that satellite communications is evolving faster than a LEO constellation on caffeine. Everyone’s trying to future-proof their business by hitching themselves to the orbital bandwagon, regardless of whether they’re building satellites, launching them, regulating them, or just trying to keep them from crashing into each other. And somewhere, probably from his Starlink-linked Tesla on Mars, Elon is smirking and adding another constellation to his weekend to-do list.

So buckle up. If this is the calm before the fiscal quarter storm, we can only imagine what next week’s space circus will bring. Spoiler alert: probably more satellites. Definitely more press releases. And if we’re lucky, a new acronym no one asked for.

Until next orbit, stay geostationary, unless LEO is offering better latency.