FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION WASHINGTON OFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN January 14, 2020 The Honorable Tim Kaine United States Senate 231 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator Kaine: Thank you for your letter regarding OneWeb s pending modification application to increase the number of satellites permitted as part of its approved low-Earth orbit, non geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite constellation. I agree with you that the types of NGSO constellations proposed by OneWeb and others could benefit Americans across the country and potentially make high-speed Internet access a reality for more consumers  particularly those in more remote and hard-to-serve areas. As you note, the Commission granted OneWeb market access for a satellite constellation of 720 satellites in June 2017. Based on a lead application filed in April 2016 by OneWeb for Ku- and Ka-band frequencies, the Commission initiated a processing round for licensing proposed NGSO fSS systems to be considered in these same frequency bands. Applications to be considered in this processing round were accepted until November 15, 2016. Eleven other license applications or requests for market access were submitted in response to this request. To date, the Commission has approved ten of these applications and/or requests for market access. OneWeb filed its request to increase the number of satellites what the FCC deems a  major change  to its authorized system, after the close of the processing round. Commission staff continue to work on processing the remaining initial applications received during the processing round. At the same time, staff continues to work on OneWeb s modification request, considering how the increase in the number of satellites may impact the licensees of the first processing round. Please be assured that all applications will be given full and fair consideration throughout this process. finally, the Commission continues to process OneWeb s applications for gateway earth stations to support its satellite constellation. In November 2019, the Commission granted OneWeb s first two gateway earth station applications. Two other applications are currently being coordinated with federal government users in the relevant spectrum bands, and these applications will be acted upon when coordination is complete. A fifth earth station application was filed in December 2019 and is under staff review. Page 2 The Honorable Tim Kaine Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance. Sincerely, Aj;t V. Pai