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Space Exploration Technologies Corp.'s (SpaceX) satellite internet arm Starlink has won a partial reprieve from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by being allowed to launch ten satellites into polar orbit next month. SpaceX asked the FCC in November last year to allow it to target an upcoming launch date in December, and the grant is at the center of the company's controversial request to modify significant parameters of the satellite constellation.

FCC Rules SpaceX's Polar Starlink Satellite Launch Serves Public Interest As Company Pledges To Bring Internet Connectivity To Far Flung Areas

In anorder issued yesterday, the FCC's International Bureau has granted SpaceX the authority to launch ten of the 348 satellites that SpaceX plans to operate at an altitude of 560 kilometers and an inclination of 97.6°. The orbital parameters are a hot point of contention in the satellite industry as other service providers, such as Amazon's satellite division Kuiper and Kepler, have objected that they will interfere with the companies' own systems once they are fully deployed.

The launch, currently scheduled for January 14th, will be SpaceX's first rideshare mission for 2021, with the company taking satellites from several entities to a sun-synchronous orbit. The mission will also include eight satellites from Kepler, with the company having stated to the Commission that the fact that the eight Starlink satellites will launch on the same mission as its own spacecraft poses a risk to the deployment of its own satellites in a near-polar orbit.

The FCC has rejected this assertion, noting that:

Given the limited number of satellites at issue here, and propulsion capabilities of the Starlink satellites, there are no particularized concerns presented by the upcoming deployment with respect to collision risk as between the SpaceX and Kepler satellites.

SpaceX is also required by the Commission to ensure that the ten satellites must not cause interference and to accept any interference that they might receive. Furthermore, in the event that the Starlinks do cause interference, SpaceX is required to cease operating them immediately.