Federal Communications Commission DA 25-989 DA 25-989 Released: November 25, 2025 REVISED PLEADING CYCLE ESTABLISHED FOR APPLICATIONS OF SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES CORP., SPECTRUM BUSINESS TRUST 2025-1, AND ECHOSTAR CORPORATION, AS AMENDED, TO ASSIGN CERTAIN SPECTRUM AND EARTH STATION LICENSES HELD BY ECHOSTAR TO SPACEX GN DOCKET NO. 25-302 Petitions to Deny Due: December 15, 2025 Oppositions Due: December 29, 2025 Replies Due: January 8, 2026 By this Public Notice, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) and the Space Bureau (SB) (1) announce that the amendments to the spectrum and earth station license assignment applications filed by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), Spectrum Business Trust 2025-1 (the Trust), and EchoStar Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries (EchoStar) (collectively, the Applicants) have been found acceptable for filing; and (2) establish a revised pleading cycle for the applications, as amended. See Amended Applications of Spectrum Business Trust 2025-1, Space Exploration Technologies Corp., and EchoStar Corporation for Consent to Assign Spectrum and Earth Station Licenses, GN Docket No. 25-302 (filed Nov. 10, 2025 (Amended Applications), ULS File Nos. 0011755472 (lead), 0011755474, 0011755481, 0011783097 (new), 0011783085 (new), and File Number 50000ALAA25 filed in ECFS (filed Nov. 20, 2025); see also ICFS File Nos. SES-ASG-20250918-00146 and SES-ASG-20250918-00147 and Submission ID 1091941380832 filed in ECFS (filed Sept. 18, 2025) (collectively, Nov. 20, 2025 Amended Applications). The Applicants first filed the spectrum and earth station license assignment applications on September 18, 2025; they subsequently amended the spectrum license applications and filed new license assignment applications for certain of EchoStar’s AWS-3 licenses on November 10, 2025 and November 20, 2025. The Commission reserves the right to return any of these applications if, upon further examination, it is determined to be defective and not in conformance with the Commission’s rules or policies. On September 18, 2025, SpaceX, the Trust, and EchoStar filed applications pursuant to section 310(d) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. § 310(d). seeking the Commission’s consent to a two-step assignment whereby EchoStar’s AWS-4 and AWS-H Block spectrum licenses and several earth station licenses will be assigned to the Trust for the benefit of SpaceX and then, approximately two years later, to SpaceX. Sept. 18 Applications, Description of the Transaction, Public Interest Showing, and Related Demonstrations at 4 (filed Sept. 18, 2025) (Sept. 18 Public Interest Statement). On September 30, 2025, On September 30, 2025, WTB and SB also accepted for filing three spectrum assignment applications filed by AT&T Mobility II LLC and EchoStar Corporation and established a pleading cycle for the proposed transaction. There have been no intervening amendments to these applications. Therefore, and for avoidance of doubt, the filing deadlines for the proposed AT&T-EchoStar transaction, as modified by the revisions to deadlines following resumption of normal Commission operations, remain December 3, 2025 for oppositions and December 15, 2025 for replies. See Applications of AT&T Mobility II LLC and EchoStar Corporation for Consent to Assign Licenses, GN Docket No. 25-303, Public Notice, DA 25-919 (WTB/SB Sept. 30, 2025); Revisions to Deadlines Following Resumption of Normal Operations, Public Notice, DA 25-943 (CGB/EB/MB/PSHSB/SB/WTB/WCB/OEA/OET/ OIA/OGC/OMD Nov. 17, 2025). WTB and SB accepted the applications for filing and established a pleading cycle for the proposed transaction. Spectrum Business Trust 2025-1, Space Exploration Technologies Corp., and EchoStar Corporation Seek FCC Consent to the Proposed Assignment of Certain Spectrum and Earth Station Licenses Held by EchoStar to SpaceX, GN Docket No. 25-302, Public Notice, DA 25-917 (WTB/SB Sept. 30, 2025) (SpaceX-EchoStar Sept. 30 Public Notice). On November 10, 2025, the Applicants amended their pending applications and filed paper copies of two new applications in ECFS to add EchoStar’s unpaired AWS-3 licenses to the spectrum assignment applications from EchoStar ultimately to SpaceX. The Applicants filed their November 10, 2025 amended and new applications in ECFS due to the closure of the Commission’s Universal Licenses System (ULS) during the lapse in appropriations. See Amended Applications of Spectrum Business Trust 2025-1, Space Exploration Technologies Corp., and EchoStar Corporation for Consent to Assign Spectrum and Earth Station Licenses, GN Docket No. 25-302 (filed Nov. 10, 2025) (Nov. 10 Amended Applications). On November 17, 2025, we issued a Public Notice tolling the pleading cycle for the transaction until the amended applications were accepted for filing. WTB and SB Temporarily Toll the Transaction Pleading Cycle for Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Spectrum Business Trust 2025-1, and EchoStar Corporation Due to Receipt of Amended Assignment Applications, GN Docket No. 25-302, DA 25-944 (WTB/SB Nov. 17, 2025) (Pleading Cycle Tolling Public Notice). On November 20, 2025, the Applicants further amended their pending applications and filed applications in ULS to assign the AWS-3 licenses from EchoStar to the Trust, and paper copies in ECFS to assign the AWS-3 licenses from the Trust to SpaceX. Nov. 20, 2025 Amended Applications; see also ULS File No. 0011783097, 0011783085 (new applications for assignment of AWS-3 unpaired licenses from EchoStar to the Trust). We now accept the amendments to the applications for filing and establish a revised pleading cycle for the proposed transaction. See Pleading Cycle Tolling Public Notice. By accepting these applications for filing, we also waive section 1.913(b), which requires that filings be made electronically in ULS, for the paper applications filed for step two of the transaction between the Trust and SpaceX. 47 CFR § 1.913(b). Interested parties may refer to the SpaceX-EchoStar Sept. 30 Public Notice for more details on the proposed transaction, including the Applicants’ initial waiver requests. SpaceX-EchoStar Sept. 30 Public Notice. In addition, the Applicants explain that SpaceX is preparing an amendment to add the unpaired AWS-3 spectrum to its separate pending application for a new non-geostationary orbit system license. See Nov. 20, 2025 Amended Applications, Amended Description of the Transaction, Public Interest Statement, and Related Demonstrations at 13 (Amended Public Interest Statement) (citing to SpaceX’s application to provide MSS and Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS) services using, among other bands, the 2 GHz MSS and AWS-H Block spectrum it proposes to acquire from EchoStar, see Application, ICFS File No. SAT-LOA-20250916-00282 (filed Sept. 22, 2025)). SpaceX plans to include requests for waiver necessary to include SCS using the AWS-3 unpaired spectrum. Id. at 13 n.38; see also Letter from David Goldman, Vice President of Satellite Policy, SpaceX, to Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary, FCC at 1, GN Docket No. 25-302 (Nov. 18, 2025) (SpaceX Nov. 18 Ex Parte). The Space Bureau will separately announce a pleading cycle for SpaceX’s NGSO MSS application when it is accepted for filing. The Applicants’ amended applications include the same waiver requests discussed in the Sept. 30 Public Notice except as follows: · The request for waiver of the terrestrial construction requirements is expanded to include the AWS-3 licenses, and to the extent necessary, those requirements in section 27.14(s) of the Commission’s rules. Nov. 20, 2025 Amended Applications, Ex. B, Waiver Requests at 2-5 (Amended Waiver Requests). · SpaceX now seeks to retain EchoStar’s previous downlink election for 2000–2020 MHz for the AWS-4 spectrum licenses, rather than reverse EchoStar’s downlink election for terrestrial use of the band. Id. at 5-6. To “reharmonize” the use of this spectrum in the United States and “to capture greater spectrum efficiencies” now that it plans to use unpaired AWS-3 spectrum for satellite uplinks, SpaceX requests that the Commission waive section 2.106 “to the extent necessary so that SpaceX may elect to use the entire 2 GHz MSS band — including the 2000-2020 MHz portion currently allocated for [MSS] uplinks—for [MSS] downlink operations solely within the United States.” Id. at 5-6; see also SpaceX Nov. 18 Ex Parte at 1. · The request for waiver of the 180-day consummation period now includes section 25.119(f), as well as section 1.948(d). The Applicants note that final consummation of the second step of the transaction may not occur within the 180-day period and ask for a preemptive extension of the consummation deadline through November 30, 2027. Amended Waiver Requests at 9. Comment Period and Filing Requirements. Interested parties may file pleadings on or before the dates indicated on the first page of this document. All filings may be filed using the Commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). Filings should refer to Docket Number GN 25-302 when filing in response to this Public Notice. § Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically using the Internet by accessing ECFS: https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/. § Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must file an original and one copy of each filing. o Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial courier, or by the U.S. Postal Service. All filings must be addressed to the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission. o Hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission’s Secretary are accepted between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. by the FCC’s mailing contractor at 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes must be disposed of before entering the building. o Commercial courier deliveries (any deliveries not by the U.S. Postal Service) must be sent to 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701. o Filings sent by U.S. Postal Service First-Class Mail, Priority Mail, and Priority Mail Express must be sent to 45 L Street NE, Washington, DC 20554. One copy of each pleading, ex parte submission, or other filing must be delivered electronically, by email, or if delivered as paper copy, by commercial overnight courier, or by first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail (according to the procedures set forth above for paper filings), to: (1) Susannah Larson, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, at susannah.larson@fcc.gov; (2) Aleksandr Yankelevich, Economic Analysis Division, Office of Economics and Analytics, aleks.yankelevich@fcc.gov; (3) Nadja Sodos-Wallace, Broadband Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, nadja.sodoswallace@fcc.gov; (4) Stephen Duall, Space Bureau, stephen.duall@fcc.gov; and (5) Joel Rabinovitz, Office of General Counsel, at TransactionTeam@fcc.gov. Any submission emailed to these individuals should include in the subject line of the email: (1) GN Docket Number 25-302; (2) the name of the submitting party; and (3) a brief description or title identifying the type of document being submitted (e.g., GN Docket Number 25-302; Widget Corp., Notice of Ex Parte Communications). People with Disabilities. To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice). -FCC- 2