Starlink Wins in Legal Battle With Dish, Viasat Over Lower-Orbit Satellites

A US appeals court has rejected lawsuits from Dish Network and Viasat that tried to reverse an FCC decision permitting SpaceX to operate Starlink satellites at lower orbits. 

At issue is the FCC’s decision last year to allow SpaceX to launch 2,814 Starlink satellites into 540- to 570-kilometer orbits, down from the original 1,110- to 1,300-kilometer operational range. 

The FCC made the decision despite objections from several rival satellite operators who argued that Starlink satellites could cause radio interference. In response, both Dish and Viasat filed lawsuits, demanding the US court system overturn the FCC’s decision.   

But on Friday, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the FCC’s original decision, and said the legal claims from both Dish and Viasat lacked merit or standing. Reuters was first to report(Opens in a new window) the news. 

During the court battle, Dish claimed the FCC had failed to fully consider how the Starlink satellites risked causing interference with Dish’s own satellite TV service. This included refusing to review reports from other outside experts.

However, in Friday’s ruling(Opens in a new window), the judges said the FCC properly followed its own procedures in determining that the risk of interference was minimal. The ruling even notes Dish itself “acknowledges that SpaceX’s desired changes pass muster under that approach.”

Viasat, on the other hand, argued the FCC should have prepared an environmental review before permitting SpaceX to operate the Starlink satellites at lower orbits. The company cited the risk of Starlink satellites colliding with its own. But the judges noted: “Viasat operates only a single satellite that flies close to SpaceX’s constellation, and it does not seriously contend that the probability of a direct collision is high enough to support Article III standing… This theory of injury is much too speculative.”

Nevertheless, in a statement Viasat said: “We believe that the Court’s decision is a setback for both space safety and environmental protection. Had the Court forced the FCC to properly grapple with the complicated issues surrounding deployment of mega-constellations in LEO, we believe harmful impacts that otherwise may persist for decades or even centuries to come could have been avoided.”

Meanwhile, Dish told PCMag: “Today’s decision does not alter the FCC rule that prohibits SpaceX and other NGSO operators from interfering with the television service provided by DBS (direct broadcast satellite) operators like Dish. We will remain vigilant in ensuring that SpaceX operations do not harm our millions of satellite customers.”

Both companies have also opposed SpaceX’s other activities via regulatory filings with the FCC, including Dish’s battle with SpaceX over the use of 12GHz radio spectrum for their respective services. So the public can expect the regulatory jousting to continue for some time.