STATEMENT OF 
CHAIRMAN AJIT PAI

Re: 	Further Streamlining Part 25 Rules Governing Satellite Services, IB Docket No. 18-314.
In 1958, the U.S. Army Signal Corps pursued a top-secret mission to develop the world’s first communications satellite.  It was launched into orbit aboard an Atlas rocket from Cape Canaveral on December 18th of that year, and the world learned of the project’s success the next day.  That’s when the satellite broadcast a recorded holiday message from President Eisenhower.  “Through the marvels of scientific advance,” he explained, “my voice is coming to you from a satellite circling in outer space.” NASA, This Month in NASA History: The U.S. SCORE’d in the Race to Space, https://appel.nasa.gov/2015/12/03/this-month-in-nasa-history-the-u-s-scored-in-the-race-to-space/ (Dec. 3, 2015).

Sixty years after this milestone in the space race, satellites are critically important to delivering communications services to Americans.  So today, we take steps to simplify the FCC’s satellite licensing process and encourage the launch of new satellite systems.  Most importantly, we propose to create an optional single license for space stations and earth stations operating in a geostationary, fixed-satellite service satellite network.  This proposal—which is the product of the Commission’s 2016 biennial review of its rules—would eliminate redundancies in the two separate licensing processes for satellites and earth stations and ultimately result in faster deployment of services to consumers.  We also seek public input on streamlining and making more flexible our satellite rules and on reducing paperwork burdens on satellite operators by repealing unnecessary annual reporting requirements.  
Taken together, these changes are intended to ensure that the United States remains the most desirable country in the world for licensing and operating satellites.
Thank you to the Commission’s dedicated staff for their diligent work on this item: Jose Albuquerque, Paul Blais, Clay DeCell, Stephen Duall, Jennifer Gilsenan, Karl Kensinger, Kerry Murray, and Troy Tanner from the International Bureau and David Horowitz and Doug Klein from the Office of General Counsel.