Federal Communications Commission	FCC 23-76

STATEMENT OF
CHAIRWOMAN JESSICA ROSENWORCEL

Re: 	Allocation of Spectrum for Non-Federal Space Launch Operations, Amendment of Part 2 of the Commission’s Rules for Federal Earth Stations Communicating with Non-Federal Fixed Satellite Service Space Stations, Federal Space Station Use of the 399.9400.05 MHz Band; ET Docket No. 13-115, RM-11341; Second Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
Six weeks ago, I had the honor of visiting Kennedy Space Center.  I met with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and scientists throughout the complex.  The highlight of the trip was meeting the Artemis II crew who will soon become the first people to visit the moon in over half a century—including, I should add, the first woman and the first person of color.  The rush of this trip was unlike anything I had ever experienced.  

Why did I feel that way?  I think it is because space exploration reminds us of what is best in us.  It reminds us that we are a Nation that pushes boundaries and purses discoveries.  We do this, as President Kennedy so famously said last week in 1962, not because it is easy, but because it is hard.  Because the skies inspire us to push the limits of human achievement, communicate in new ways, and understand our own planet like never before.  In this country we have done it before, and we are working to do it again.

What is so exciting about the future of United States space exploration is that the Artemis mission is far from the only major endeavor we are working on.  Coming up, NASA will launch its Psyche mission with a commercial operator, sending a spacecraft to land on an asteroid orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter.  This kind of commercial space activity is multiplying.  The number of space launches is growing—fast.  

Our policies need to keep up.  We need to ensure that providers have a more consistent and reliable way to get the bandwidth they need for communications during space launches.  Historically, this agency provided access to airwaves for space launch activity using special temporary authority.  But this cobbled-together approach is not well-suited to an era where commercial launches are a happening with far greater frequency.  So today we allocate airwaves specifically to support commercial space launch activity.  It will make our process simpler and more open to new entrants.  It will better facilitate coordination with our federal partners through the use of a frequency coordinator.  Launches are nail-biting undertakings under ideal conditions, so this will help make them easier and also boost competition.  

	I want to thank our colleagues at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Department of Defense working collaboratively with us on this effort.  I know they join us in supporting United States leadership in the new space age.

Thank you to the staff responsible for this effort: Damian Ariza, David Duarte, Michael Ha, Nick Oros, Siobahn Philemon, Jamison Prime, Ronald Repasi, and Tom Struble from the Office of Engineering and Technology; Linda Chang, Mark DeSantis, David Hu, John Lockwood, Roger Noel, Paul Powell, Arpan Sura, Joel Taubenblatt, and Peter Trachtenberg from the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau; Joseph Hill, Julie Kearney, Karl Kensinger, Julia Malette, Kathyrn Medley, and Merissa Velez from the Space Bureau; David Konczal, Chin Yoo, Deborah Broderson, David Senzel, Anjali Singh, and Jeffrey Steinberg from the Office of General Counsel; Nicolas Copeland, Patrick Sun, and Aleks Yankelevich from the Office of Economics and Analytics; Gregory Baker, Nese Guendelsberger, Dante Ibarra, and Ethan Lucarelli from the Office of International Affairs; Jeffrey Neumann from the Media Bureau; Jason Koslofsky, Jeremy Marcus, Paul Noone, Josh Zeldis from the Enforcement Bureau; Michael Gussow and Joy Ragsdale from the Office of Communications Business Opportunities; and Nicole Ongele from the Office of Managing Director.